For the week ending March 16th, 2024, the Project Stress Index composite fell by 1.4% to close at 127.4. The decline in the Index was primarily due to an 8% decrease in the number of projects put on hold for the week. However, this decline was partially offset by slight increases in both Delayed Bid activity (+2.0%) and Abandoned activity (+1.9%). This latest weekly reading marks the second lowest point thus far in 2024, beaten only by the reading of 116.8 recorded in the first week of the year. The main contributor to the increase in the PSI during the first ten weeks of the new year has been Abandoned projects, which accounted for over 80% of the total change. On Hold projects and Delayed Bid activity have contributed 13% and 4%, respectively, to the Index's increase in 2024.
| Delay Bid Date | On Hold | Abandoned |
|---|---|---|
(Week-on-week changes of less than 0.25% are indicated as unchanged)
Public and private projects often have different stress trends because they are financed by different means. For the week ending March 16th, both sectors reported historically normal levels of delayed project activity. However, readings for On Hold activity indicate a notable divergence by sector, with the level for private projects at nearly double their level from the same week 1-year ago. In contrast, public sector activity is up by 7% over the same period and is presently below the average weekly level of 2021. Finally, the latest public sector abandonment activity reported a 50% increase from the same week a year ago. This latest increase brings to mind last year’s rising trend in private project abandonments when early 2023 activity readings increased by 50% and thereafter oscillated around this heightened level.
The Project Stress Index (PSI) monitors the level of U.S. construction projects, excluding single family residential, that have experienced a bid date delay, have been placed on hold, or have been abandoned over the last 30 days. Each component has been indexed against the average of their weekly values recorded during 2021. The independent tracking of each status type gives unique insights into the timing, direction, and amplitude of market changes.
Additional information about the PSI, including detailed data about the individual readings for delayed, on hold, and abandoned projects can be found here.