McGraw-Hill Outlook Calls for 7% Decline in 2009 Construction

摘要

Already shell-shocked from the crumbling credit market and its impact on funding for non-residential construction projects, the 400-plus construction executives who attended McGraw-Hill's 2009 Construction Outlook on Oct. 23 in Washington, D.C., got more bad news at the meeting from several of the nation's leading construction economists for 2009.Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, told the standing-room only audience that he is forecasting a 7 percent decline in total construction for 2009, but said that the relatively mild rate of decline (compared to some of the numbers you see in the housing market and other market sectors) will only hold up if the federal stimulus package works.