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Carl Molesworth

Where's the Recession?
March 24, 2008

I’m trying to make sense of the current economic conditions -- and in particular their effect on the heavy construction industry. I know the housing market is down; I own a house with a “For Sale” planted out front to remind me of that. But if we are in a recession, why are there so many indications that non-residential construction is booming here in the Pacific Northwest?

My last post discussed growth in the market in terms of hard numbers. Now let’s look at the visceral side of things. Cranes, for instance. You see them all over the place in the Seattle-Bellevue area, but they aren’t just working in the urban areas.

Last month, crews working to improve rural State Route 9 about 40 miles north of Seattle had to postpone setting the girders for a new bridge when one of the two cranes working on the job broke down. The contractor looked around for another crane to bring in, but there were none available. Instead, the girder setting had to wait about three weeks for a new engine block to be delivered from Germany so the disabled crane could be repaired. The girder picks finally took place last week.

Taking a broader look, reports coming back from this year’s CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction equipment show and the co-located IFPE exposition in Vegas tell of records set for attendance, exhibit space and number of exhibiting companies. But that’s not all. One exhibitor after another was introducing innovative new products and predicting strong sales for them.

I know I’m taking snapshots here, but how can all this be happening if the economy is in the dumper? Please, someone, explain this to me. Let me know what you think.

Posted by Carl Molesworth on March 24, 2008 | Comments (1)