February 03, 2021

(Washington, D.C., Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) –  Surprisingly, 71%, of contractors have scarcity of minimum one construction material in addition to 89% impact on business due to shortage of skilled labour, project delay due to pandemic and worker’s health.

Wood is the most non available material for construction. Though the index of Q4 is 60 points, 3 above than Q3 the net value of the year 2020 is less than 74 points aggregate. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index is analysed with Dodge Data by using survey obtained with various dimensions on a scale, 0 to 100.

Backlog, New Business Confidence and Revenue are considered for investigation in Q4. All of them have a positive improvement with 1, 4 and 2 points, than Q3 Index.

“The pandemic has exacerbated issues contractors were already facing in availability and cost of materials from tariffs and a shortage of skilled workers,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley.

“The industry is a positive indicator of where the rest of the economy is going, but its likely confidence won’t fully return until companies and workers have the confidence to get back to work safely,” Bradley added. “That’s why the U.S. Chamber is urging lawmakers to come together before the end of the year on additional pandemic relief.”

Interestingly, 57% of builders are positive about growth in 2021 and many of them are planning to recruit more workers to accelerate the momentum.

Source: U S Chamber of Commerce

Reference: https://www.uschamber.com/press-release/less-availability-of-building-materials-emerges-significant-pandemic-challenge.