Construction Economic News

COMPOSITE OVERVIEW: The PSI gave back slightly more than half of its gains from the prior week, falling 9.3% for the week ending February 3rd, 2024, to close at 142.0. The absolute count of projects that experienced a delayed bid date, hold, or abandonment all increased from the prior week, however, due to seasonal adjustment factors, the composite fell for the week. The first full month of data for 2024 has been particularly difficult for the industry when compared to previous years. The first four weeks of 2024 experienced 85% and 56% more abandoned projects compared to the same 4-week period in 2023 and 2022 respectively. Such extreme gains have thus far been limited to abandoned project activity. By comparison, similar 1- and 2-year look backs for delayed bid date and on hold project counts reveal increases of 10% or less. These latest results are but a continuation of a picture that first began in September of 2023 when indexed abandoned activity readings initially pulled away from the other components of the index. Never in recorded history has abandoned activity been the leading driver of the Project Stress Index for 4-months or longer.