CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WEAKENS

Is the building boom over?
Building contractors are seeing more projects canceled than new ones started, and industry employment has fallen during the past 12 months, the General Contractors of America trade group reported in a 28 October press announcement.
Three-quarters of contractors have had at least one scheduled project postponed or canceled in October, compared to 60 percent in August and 32 percent in June, according to the association’s survey results.
Forty-two percent reported difficulties in finding materials, equipment or parts; 34 percent expect their volume of business will not return to pre-pandemic levels for at least a year.
These factors cut construction jobs from September 2019 through September 2020 in 234 of the 358 metro areas, or 65 percent, covered by the survey.
Employment levels were stagnant in 38 other areas, meaning that only 86 metro areas, or about a quarter of those surveyed, added construction jobs over the 12-month period.
“Without new federal relief measures [the pandemic and economic shutdown], pose a significant threat to current construction employment levels,” the association warned.
TREND FORECAST: Again, as we have forecast, commercial real estate and apartments in major cities will be hard hit by the COVID War. And, it should be noted that inflation is rising as a result of product shortages throughout the industrial supply chain. Thus, the higher inflation rises, so, too, will gold and silver prices.