Business and Finance

Following the Federal Reserve’s recent increase in interest rates, consumer confidence has plummeted, manufacturing imports have decreased, and housing markets are cooling. The rate hike is the largest since the 1980s, CNBC reports. A corresponding decline in consumer sentiment and spending has been followed more recently by a slowdown in purchases of home appliances, DIY products, and construction materials. On the flip side, demand for clothing and sporting goods remains strong, perhaps due to vacation, return-to-work, and back-to-school shopping. Spending… Read More »Is the Interest Rate Hike Slowing Sales of Construction Materials and Appliances?

Construction input prices have increased dramatically since this time last year, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the trade group Associated Builders and Contractors. More specifically, construction input prices are up 21.4%, while nonresidential construction input prices are up 21.9%. Input prices are the costs directly incurred by the creation of a good or service, such as direct materials and labor. The increases occurred in 10 of 11 subcategories in May. The largest were in natural gas… Read More »Construction Input Prices Are up 21% From a Year Ago, Says Associated Builders and Contractors

Lakisha Woods, the new CEO of the American Institute of Architects, joined the editors of Architect magazine for a discussion about her career in construction, her vision for the future, and her new book, Never Get Their Coffee. Here are some highlights: I looked around the room, and saw that out of 150 people there, only one was a woman, and she came up to me and immediately befriended me. We had many conversations after that. Other members often assumed… Read More »An In-Depth Conversation With AIA’s New CEO