On the surface, this year's batch of forecasts for 2006 construction activity in the U.S. appears optimistic, calling for yet another year of record growth. But lurking below the surface is a pervasive uneasiness about inflation. Economists interviewed by ENR are virtually unanimous in citing rising costs as their major concern and the biggest threat to their forecasts. One economist speculated that as much as one-third to one-half of the apparently robust growth in the highway market could be purely inflationary. In fact, if inflation stays its course, many forecasts actually will be calling for real declines (see p. 52).
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