As the year winds down, we look ahead to the coming year and the projections for a strong construction market. We find there are many reasons to be confident. In particular, the Portland Cement Association’s (PCA) overall forecast for the U.S. economy suggests considerable strength.

PCA stated in their fall report that cement consumption is expected to grow 2.9 percent by year-end, reflecting the recovery occurring throughout the U.S. The pace of construction activity is expected to remain strong at 2.6 percent in 2019. We are excited to see such a positive trend. As we proceed into 2020, at some point growth may ebb to 1.6 percent.

"The pace of construction activity is expected to remain strong at 2.6 percent in 2019."

While federal funding may be flat, many states are acting by effectively passing increased gas taxes and/or user fees. Furthermore, the buzz out of Washington indicates federal funding could be back on the agenda soon. Although getting consensus will be time-consuming, the U.S. can’t remain competitive without decent infrastructure.

The tax cuts passed at the end of 2017 proved to be a big boost to the economy, but we will continue to watch how the rising debt may impact the future federal public infrastructure spending. Eventually, higher mortgage rates for residential buildings and higher borrowing cost for nonresidential buildings may contribute to a gradual slowing of the construction sector’s growth.

We are happy to see that we have a strong, resilient country with healthy GDP growth, wage growth and consumer debt in near record lows. All of the indicators continue to show overall positive growth projections.

More good news is that the unemployment rate is now below 4 percent and expected to trend down. That leads us to the one trend we wish was changing as we move into 2019 - the continued workforce shortage. It’s no secret that the skilled worker shortage is at an all-time high.

Many construction workers left the industry during the 2008 recession due to challenges in finding work. Seasoned workers who remained will soon retire, and new entrants to the workforce are passing over construction for high-tech careers. The construction industry needs to move quickly to find a means to fill the increasing amount of open positions.

2019 will be another positive year for the construction industry and a golden opportunity for companies to use this time to showcase the many opportunities in our industry. Best wishes for a successful and profitable new year!