The crane index is soaring. (To calculate: look outside your window, and count the number of construction cranes you can see.)
Not only is nonresidential construction strong, but it’s accelerating. Lodging is very big, as is the office sector. The strength is pretty much across the board.
Strong nonresidential construction will not fully offset the residential decline, but it helps. On a cautionary note, however, don’t interpret this is implying strong business confidence. The lead times for construction are long enough that the s dollars spent today were committed many months ago.
For the overall economy, this is good news, arguing against the recession scenario.