The U.S. construction sector enjoyed a robust period of recovery in the spring months of 2021, buoyed by positive economic trends and growing industry confidence. It was a welcome change from 2020, which saw many projects stall or cancel. But experts say momentum has slowed over the past few months, reflecting the ongoing pressures of elevated material costs, extended material delivery delays and a labor shortage, as well as a reduction in demand for some types of real estate. While there’s still a healthy pipeline of nonresidential projects starting or recommencing planning and design work, fewer projects are actually breaking ground — a trend that may continue through the end of 2021 and into the first half of 2022. “I think that the drag has certainly kicked into gear here, as the sector faces a shortfall of labor, shortfall of material and, of course, higher prices in combination with still fairly subdued levels of demand,” Dodge Data & Analytics Chief Economist Richard Branch said. 
Groundbreaking activity began to ramp up in early 2021 and peaked around May. However, since then, the number of nonresidential construction starts has trended lower. Dodge Data & Analytics, which tracks projects from their inception through to completion, found that nonresidential building  Read the full story here. | 
