ASA’s February Economic Report: First Quarter Outlook, Why ASA Members are in the Clear

From the February 2024 ASA Monthly Economic Report: First quarter GDP is currently running at 3%, far above expectations. The good news for ASA members is that it is coming largely on the back of strong corporate and private investment, much of that through nonresidential construction and facility expansion and consumer spending.

Trends are showing inflation cooling, but there are pockets that remain “sticky”. Most data points show inflation headed toward the Fed’s target rate of 2%, current measures show it running at about 2.6%. This is good, but what everyone is watching is the impact of new manufacturing activity, conservative mining activity, and a disrupted global maritime sector.

The monthly ASA Economic Report is produced by Armada Corporate Intelligence, ASA’s business intelligence partner, and is available as a free member benefit for ASA members through the MyASA portal at www.asa.net/myasa.

Additionally, Armada noted that literally and figuratively 2024 may be a stormy year… We have seen a storm on Wall Street, one that has created a significant tailwind and has pushed some of the indexes to record highs… and this is also a Presidential election year and historically, only 4 times in history have we had an election year that led to a significant drop in the S&P 500. Stay tuned to see the outcome…

The report also answers a reader’s question of the month: What are the top 4 challenges for construction in 2024 and beyond? Including two lingering challenges and two emerging challenges as we look at the construction sector.

Again, ASA members can access the Monthly Economic Report through the MyASA portal at www.asa.net/myasa.