Quarterly Cost Reports
2026 Quarterly Cost Reports
1Q 2026 Cost Report: Data Centers Propping Up a Fragile Construction Market
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index rose modestly between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, up two points to a 54 rating.
2025 Quarterly Cost Reports
4Q Cost Report: Construction Execs Report Increased Optimism for 2026
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index rose four points between Q3 and Q4, to a slightly optimistic 52 rating. The economic index also rose four points, to a 48 rating.
3Q 2025 Cost Report: Construction Execs Driving Slow Through the Economic Fog
By Jon Keller
Construction industry executives report little change in sentiment between Q2 and Q3. ENR’s Confidence Index rose one point to a still slightly pessimistic 48 rating this quarter.
2Q 2025 Cost Report: Executive Confidence Falls as Uncertainty Rules the Roost
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index fell 14 points between Q1 and Q2, to a rating of 47. That is the third largest drop in the history of the index, only surpassed by the falls in Q2 2020 and Q2 2022.
1Q Cost Report: Construction Execs Optimistic for the Year Ahead
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index rose six points between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 to a rating of 61. That is the index’s highest rating since Q1 2022. However, it is down three points in comparison with last quarter’s post-election confidence rating.
2024 Quarterly Cost Reports
4Q Cost Report: Construction Industry Optimism Surges Post Election
By Jon Keller
Construction executives report a boost in industry confidence on ENR’s latest Construction Industry Confidence Index survey. The index rose to a 55 rating this quarter, up from 47 in Q3.
3Q 2024 Cost Report: Construction Exec Confidence Largely Unchanged
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index shows construction industry executive confidence virtually unchanged from last quarter, as many firms report they are waiting on the results of November’s general election.
2Q Confidence Index: Private Financing Woes Cut Confidence
By Jon Keller
The results of this quarter’s Construction Industry Confidence Index survey show a dip in confidence among construction industry executives.
1Q Confidence Index: Construction Executive Optimism Surges
By Jon Keller
For the first time since Q1 of 2022, construction industry executives report a stable and slightly growing market on ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index (CICI) survey.
2023 Quarterly Cost Reports
4Q Confidence Index: Pessimism Lingers for Construction Executives
By Jon Keller
Despite a surprisingly strong economy, construction industry executives report that they enter 2024 with much of the same trepidation they faced at the start of 2023.
3Q Confidence Index: Positivity Grows Among Construction Executives
By Jon Keller
ENR’s Construction Industry Confidence Index rose this quarter to its highest rating since Q1 of 2022, up six points to a nearly stable 46 rating.
Construction Executive Confidence Falls in Face of Bank Failures
By Jon Keller
Confidence in the current construction market is virtually unchanged, but execs have become more pessimistic about the short- and medium-term future.
2023 1Q Cost Report: Construction Execs Are Wary, But Their Confidence Still Rises
By Jon Keller
Industry fears of recession continue to be held at bay for now.
2022 Quarterly Cost Reports
4Q Cost Report: Executive Confidence Falls as Recession Nears
By Jon Keller
Construction sector foresees a difficult market in the first half of 2023
2022 3Q Cost Report: Execs Stay Steady As Economy Sends Mixed Signals
By Jon Keller
Construction execs show slight optimism, but recession still looms
2022 2Q Cost Report: Executive Confidence Drops as Recession Fears Rise
By Jon Keller
Decisionmakers see a declining market through the end of 2023.
2022 1Q Cost Report: Confidence Stays Steady As Execs Wait and See
By Jon Keller
Demand stronger than economic limiters, for now.
2021 Quarterly Cost Reports
2021 4Q Cost Report: Markets Still Strong, but Doubts Grow for Execs
By Jon Keller
Confidence continues to slip as shortages remain acute.
2021 3Q Cost Report: Construction Executives Stay Confident
By Jon Keller
Strong headwinds persist, but most continue to see a growing market.
2Q Cost Report: Industry Execs Believe Recovery Is in Full Swing
By Jon Keller
The first six months of 2021 have seen big materials cost hikes, increasing labor shortages and uncertainty over federal action on a major infrastructure package.
1Q Cost Report: Industry Executives See the Market Stabilizing in 2021
By Jon Keller
Challenges remain, but the effects of the pandemic may be less severe than feared, they say
2020 Quarterly Cost Reports
2020 4Q Cost Report: Amid Second Wave, Outlook Uncertain Heading in 2021
By Alisa Zevin
A slow recovery has begun following economic fallout caused by COVID-19
3Q Cost Report: Lumber Prices Soar as Construction Begins to Recover
By Alisa Zevin
A slow recovery has begun following economic fallout caused by COVID-19
Construction Starts Drop as Global Pandemic Continues
By Alisa Zevin
While construction plummeted in the first five months, material prices have begun to stabilize.
Will the Coronavirus Stunt Construction's Rising Market?
By Gary J. Tulacz
Execs see continued growth, but worry what kind of 'black swan' spreading pandemic will be.
2019 Quarterly Cost Reports
Analysts See Oil and Steel Price Drops As Growth Soars
By Alisa Zevin
Wind farms and data centers will help spur falling construction start numbers
Construction Starts to Decline Slowly Heading in 2020
By Alisa Zevin
Commercial and non-building construction continue to grow while other markets recede
Checking For Signs of Slowdown in a Growth Market
By Gary J. Tulacz
Will rising materials prices and labor costs blunt the growth in the building sector?
Markets Still Remain Strong, But Execs Fear 2020 Vision
By Gary J. Tulacz
Many construction sector firms are now starting to plan how to be recession-proof
2018 Quarterly Cost Reports
Tariff Issues and Costs Show Few Signs of Ending in 2019
By Jeff Yoders
As China trade deal talks drag on, original exemptions expire and the exception process keeps changing
Market Growth Is Expected to Continue Through 2019
By Gary J. Tulacz
While firm revenue is steadily rising, many warn that the bottom line may be under pressure
Forward Buying Won't Ease All Tariff Uncertainties For Firms
By Jeff Yoders
With the price outlook ‘clear as mud,’ says one exec, long-term cost management strategies are elusive
Industry Executives Confident That the Boom Will Continue
By Gary J. Tulacz
But steel and aluminum tariffs and rising labor costs may put the squeeze on the bottom line
2017 Quarterly Cost Reports
Market Confidence Is on the Rise, at Least Through 2018
By Gary J. Tulacz
But there are fears that materials price escalation and rising wages may cut into profits
Modest Pay Hikes Are Still the Norm
By Bruce Buckley, Debra K. Rubin
While craft workers remain in short supply in most of the U.S., wage hikes are steady but not skyrocketing, based on recent industry-wide surveys.
Industry Execs Worry About Delays in Trump Agenda
By Gary J. Tulacz
When will Congress get around to tax reform and an infrastructure stimulus plan?
Executives See Gains From Trump Administration Agenda
By Gary J. Tulacz
Industry execs like what they hear. Will they like what they see down the line?
2016 Quarterly Cost Reports
Construction Confidence Gets a Trump Bump
By Gary J. Tulacz
Executives in infrastructure, power, pipeline sectors pin hopes on Trump policy turnarounds.
Labor Gaps Bring Steady Pay Raises
By Bruce Buckley, Mary B. Powers, Debra K. Rubin
Pending presidential election may delay project starts.
Strong Market Belies Fears About Building Construction in 2017
By Gary J. Tulacz
Firms worry that economic and political uncertainties cloud the future of the buildings market.
Construction Market Facing Tipping Point?
By Gary Tulacz
The construction market continues to grow, but so do the uncertainties about the future.
2015 Quarterly Cost Reports
Strong Market Raises Worries Over What the Future Holds
By Gary Tulacz
Construction is a cyclical industry. Industry executives enduring recessions console themselves with the knowledge that, sooner or later, the bad times will pass.
Pay Ramps Up as Worker Gaps Grow
By Bruce Buckley and Debra K. Rubin
With construction spending rising toward prerecession peaks and worker shortages growing for both open-shop and union contractors, compensation of the craft trades has seen a significant bump—for some firms, the largest in nearly three decades.
Markets Remain Strong, but Execs See It Begin To Soften
By Gary J. Tulacz
The ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index for the second quarter shows that, of the 220 executives of large construction and design firms responding to the survey, most believe the market continues to grow but have long-term concerns about a softening market.
Industry Market Confidence Hits Record High
03/24/2015
By Gary J. Tulacz
The construction market has enjoyed steady growth for several years. Most industry executives believe this growth will continue through 2016.
2014 Quarterly Cost Reports
The ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index (CICI) survey for the fourth quarter shows that, of the 328 executives of large construction and design firms responding to the survey, most see the market as stable or growing.
ENR Confidence Index Rises Again
The Construction Industry Confidence Index rose for the sixth straight quarter, and industry executives believe the market will continue its steady growth through at least the beginning of 2016.
ENR Confidence Index Rises Dramatically
For the fifth-straight quarter, the surveyed industry executives believe all the market sectors measured by the CICI are now in growth mode.
ENR Confidence Index Rises Dramatically
Construction industry executives continue to express confidence that the market is in growth mode. For many firms and in several market sectors, the level of growth leaves a lot to be desired. However, most industry executives believe the recovery will continue, and some believe it will accelerate in 2014.
2013 Quarterly Cost Reports
ENR's Construction Industry Confidence Index
After five years of tough markets and hopes of a recovery that never quite seemed to materialize, construction industry executives now believe the industry is back on the path to growth and the elusive turnaround has arrived. While some sectors remain sluggish, most industry executives surveyed believe the overall market is growing.
ENR Confidence Index Suffers a Small Drop
Like Charlie Brown trying to kick that football, construction executives in recent years have hoped for different results—every year hoping that this would be year the industry would bounce back from the prolonged doldrums that began in 2008. But just like Lucy snatching back the pigskin, by the third quarter of each year, economic reality would set in and market confidence would plummet.
ENR Confidence Index Rises Dramatically
It has not been an easy five years for the construction industry. The recession of 2008 hit nearly every market sector and region in the country. Recovery has been slow. For years, forecasters have searched in vain for signs that the worst of the recession is in the rearview mirror.
ENR Confidence Index Rises Dramatically
The construction market has taken its lumps over the past four years, tempting a normally optimistic industry to get gloomy. However, for the first time since early 2008, the industry is seeing signs that suggest the worst is over and the market is gradually recovering.
2012 Quarterly Cost Reports
ENR's Construction Industry Confidence Index
The construction industry has been expecting a turnaround in the market for the past three years, but just when sentiment starts to improve, fate steps in to thwart an upswing.
Construction Industry Confidence Index Declines in Third Quarter
With the American presidential election less than two months away, the construction industry has taken a wait-and-see attitude about the markets.
Construction Industry Market Confidence Steady
The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey shows the industry's guarded optimism.
Industry Sees Recovery Ahead After Four Years of Gloom
The slow-but-steady recovery of the U.S. economy has many firms in the industry now believing that the worst is behind them and that a broad recovery is poised to begin.
2011 Quarterly Cost Reports
Q4 Cost Report: 'Deja Vu' All Over Again
Trying to predict when the industry recovery will kick in, construction economists can only agree that things will get better, just not next year.
Construction economists continue to dial back their forecasts for 2011. Single-family housing, public works and the institutional-building markets have all stumbled badly in 2011. The few bright spots, such as multifamily housing, manufacturing and powerplants, “won't be able to outweigh the minuses.”
Hard Times Draw the Line For Labor and Bargaining
For 108 years, groups representing New York City's union contractors and building trades have worked under the New York Plan for the Resolution of Jurisdictional Disputes, an agreement used to resolve inter-union disputes and bind union contractors to use organized labor. But at year-end, the era comes to a close.
Top Industry Execs Believe the Market Has Turned a Corner
Despite the headline-grabbing attention of federal deficits and budget cuts, the real problems facing construction remain the prolonged recession in the private nonresidential building markets, the weakening of the once-dependable public markets, a stalled housing recovery teetering on the brink of slipping back into recession and high unemployment.
2010 Quarterly Cost Reports
Treading Water: A Weak Recovery Checks Inflation
No more federal stimulus money, no highway bill, a weak economic recovery, a stalled housing market, a nonresidential building market yet to bottom out, gridlock in government, continued high unemployment—it could add up to no inflation in 2011.
With Margins Cut to the Bone and No Demand, Costs Are Left With Nowhere To Go
The selling cost indexes, which, in part, reflect shrinking subcontractor margins due to competition, are starting to see year-to-year changes flatten out after a series of steep double-digit declines.
With Stimulus Spending Running Out Recession Will Keep Grip on Costs
The recession is expected to keep its grip on costs through the second half of this year, despite a shift in what is affected.
Despite Upturn in Steel, Lumber and Energy Prices, Deflation Sweeps Cost Index Board
Prices for diesel fuel, structural steel, lumber and gypsum-wallboard products started to stir during the first quarter, but most increases were coming off dismal lows in 2009 and were not strong enough to break the stranglehold the recession has on construction costs.
2009 Quarterly Cost Reports
Recession Spreads To Nonresidential Buildings: Little Room For Costs To Move
The deepening recession in nonresidential building will keep a cap on costs, frustrating producers who are trying to take advantage of any signs of life in homebuilding.
Competition Intensifies as Recession Deepens
The drop in materials prices is starting to bottom out, but that is being followed by fierce competition that is cutting margins and driving construction costs well below last year’s levels.
Hard Bids, Low Costs
In less than a year the construction market has gone from owners fishing for bids to a bidding frenzy.
Inflation Reverses Course As Recession Floors Prices
Over the last six months, the deepening recession its accompanying credit crisis have dramatically changed the construction industry’s cost picture.
2008 Quarterly Cost Reports
Recession KO's Inflation in 2009
The economic crisis has gone global, slowing contruction markets worldwide and knocking back inflation both in the U.S. and overseas.
Crisis Changes Demand Side of Costs
Record high oil and steel prices during the first half of the year were just starting to work their way into construction industry cost indexes when the financial meltdown on Wall Street threatened to drastically reduce the demand side of the cost equation.
Demand Crowns Diesel, Not Gasoline, Cost King
Two to three years ago, some contractors began retiring diesel pickup trucks and replacing them with gasoline units in anticipation of the rising cost of cleaner diesel fuel and lower-emission engines. But many never expected diesel to lose its longtime price stability.
Stagflation Threatens Construction As High Prices Stare Down Recession
As bad economic news continues to mount it is becoming increasingly clear that last year’s subprime mortgage crisis is spilling over into the overall economy and could eventually threaten still healthy commercial and public construction markets.