Economics  

To better understand the degree of impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry, Dodge Data & Analytics conducted a survey of 172 contractors across the U.S. from March 19 to March 31. The results of that study, published in the Keeping Business Going in a Time of Crisis: Findings from the Dodge Contractor Panel Study on Contractors’ State of Business During the COVID-19 Outbreak white paper, reveals that most contractors are feeling at least some impact.

Billings at architecture firms plummeted in March as the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) fell by 20.1 points to a score of 33.3 for the month (a score over 50 indicates increasing billings, a score below 50 indicates declining billings). This is by far the largest single month decline the index has seen in its nearly 25-year history, far surpassing the declines of 9.4 points seen at the start of the 2001 recession and 8.3 points seen at the start of the Great Recession.