The U.S. construction economy has been a pleasant surprise to many because it has proven to be resilient to rising layoffs and wavering consumer confidence levels during the past year. Unfortunately, underlying drivers such as home affordability, office vacancy rates and industrial capacity-utilization rates are not likely to be as favorable for the remainder of the year. But look for a healthy rebound in many building sectors in 2003.

U.S. construction spending fell 0.9 percent in March due to a drop in public building as construction retreated from high levels seen over the mild winter. The value of new construction in the United States dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $874.0 billion in March from an upwardly revised level of $881.5 billion in February.

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