New home construction costs have risen about 3% in the last year, from lumber down 4% to concrete up 6%, per @ JBREC survey.

We ran a poll of Americans' support for tariffs and also asked them who was responsible for paying the tariffs: Foreigner countries & companies - or - domestic importers & consumers. Turns out there is a lot more support for tariffs if people think foreigners pay them. 1/

There is no plan.

Construction gained 19k (+0.2%) jobs in Feb, BUT total hrs worked fell 0.3%. Tot jobs have increased but Hrs worked has gone down each of the last 5mo. We've posted minor jobs gains in both Jan and Feb, and yet unemployment has gone up from 5.2% in Dec to 7.2% in Feb.

Construction Analytics Outlook Feb 2025 "Don’t be surprised if 2025 construction jobs growth slows a bit. Jobs are slightly ahead of volume growth, particularly in the Non-building Infrastructure sector." In the Jobs section. Read it. edzarenski.com/2025/02/05/con…

Remember next week when PPI #'s for construction come out, The PPI Excludes Imports and Tariffs. There may be expected some movement in the PPI, that would be reaction to tariffs.

Fast approaching

Construction Briefs Apr 2025 Tariffs impact pricing decisions on all domestically produced products, not just the imported products. Consumers pay the price. Impacts on Construction Inflation and Spending (guesstimates). edzarenski.com/2025/04/03/con…

Lumber down 7% Lumber market thinks it’s exempt form tariffs. So far!

Podcast of my interview with Rob Ryan, CEO of Twining, Inc. We discuss how I got here, why I provide a free blog on construction economics, who uses my data and what to expect from tariffs. twininginc.com/post/building-…

Just to name one example: a LOT of unauthorized immigrants work construction jobs actually building or maintaining housing. If you create a shortage of labor in the very industry whose goods you want to reduce demand for, you're not really fixing anything.

For the 9th consecutive year, I will be speaking at Advancing Preconstruction 2025. I will be opening the program May 22 to the plenary session presenting the current and expected economic conditions affecting everyone in construction, focused on RISK. advancing-preconstruction.com/whats-on/full-…

Construction Briefs May 2025 I can’t begin to know what to tell estimators to carry for increased cost due to tariffs and supply issues. I'm expecting, when I prepare the Midyear Forecast, that spending projections will go down, and inflation will go up. edzarenski.com/2025/05/05/con…

Construction Forecast Update May 2025 Headwinds could slow new starts growth. Many economists predict current trade impacts will slow overall economic growth. That in turn could slow capital expenditures, which, in this case, is new construction starts. edzarenski.com/2025/05/07/con…

Cleveland Fed President Hammack is "hearing from businesses that are raising prices even though they aren’t affected by tariffs because competitors who do face higher import taxes are raising prices." 😲 wsj.com/livecoverage/s…

Construction Briefs June 2025 What’s propping up construction spending growth? Here’s the top growth markets. edzarenski.com/2025/06/04/con…

Housing permits continued a downhill trend in April for the fourth month in a row, pointing to a broader home building slowdown in 2025. The total number of single-family home building permits issued year to date nationwide is 4.7% lower than in 2024. nahb.org/blog/2025/06/p…

The office portion of the project will be built. The $100 million Data Center portion of the project has been canceled.