MARKET WATCH CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS PRICES ROSE IN Q4 2021 BUT DECLINES EXPECTED IN Q1 2022
INDUSTRY FIGHTS POTENTIAL FEDERAL GAS TAX SUSPENSION The White House and top Democrats are considering a proposal to suspend the roughly 18.3-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax for the rest of the year, which could cut transportation revenue by more than $20 billion. The governors of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Virginia are floating the idea of either rolling back existing gas taxes or preventing scheduled rate hikes from taking effect. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced S. 3609, the Gas Prices Relief Act. The Biden administration has not taken a public position on the proposal. The industry is staunchly opposed to the measure, as gas tax funds are used to pay for infrastructure improvements through the Highway Trust Fund. Most federal highway and public transportation programs are funded primarily with taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, a “user pays” system to support construction and maintenance.
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Linesight, a global construction consultancy firm, expects prices for construction commodities to decline in 2022 after hitting record highs last year. Much of the inflationary pressure on prices was due to shortages prompted by pandemic-related supply chain issues, increased global demand, labor disruptions and extreme weather. The findings are part of Linesight’s fourthquarter Commodity Report and price forecast, based on ACBM Staff interviews with 160-plus industry experts across the globe. In 2021, prices for essential construction materials like copper, lumber, steel and cement hit record highs amid shortages. These higher costs and delays for delivery blunted construction output to $1.626 trillion compared to previous projections of $1.645 trillion. With the passage of the U.S. infrastructure bill, it is expected that total construction spending will jump to $1.701 trillion in 2022, a 4.5% increase over 2021. Linesight expects to see declines in prices in 2022.
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WHERE 2022 US CONSTRUCTION HIRING WILL MEET THE TOUGHEST COMPETITION For 2022, ThinkWhy’s cloudbased HR and talent acquisition benchmarking software, LaborIQ, forecasts nearly 240,000 jobs gained in the construction and extraction occupations—3.9% growth. Worker shortages could hinder job growth in all industries. LaborIQ predicts construction, healthcare, professional and business services and trade, transportation and utilities will recover jobs lost in 2022. Competition for available labor is not letting up.
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The four metros expected to add the most jobs overall in 2022— New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth—are also the four largest metros by population. Their projected job gains are over 880,000— one in four jobs added nationally this year will be in these top markets. Job gains for larger markets play an outsized role in the national recovery and economy, but job growth as a share of population can shed light on relative improvements for some smaller markets and for larger markets
that show big improvements. The top markets for job growth should expect to see 4% increases in employment over the course of 2022, adding a combined 845,000 jobs. Nationally, job growth in 2022 is expected to be just over 2%. Places like Las Vegas, Honolulu, Myrtle Beach and Orlando that saw huge drops in tourism should add more jobs as travel, especially business travel, start to pick up.
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3/1/22 11:45 AM
