对价格通胀和持久性劳动力短缺的担忧在建筑高管之间的乐观感到乐观，但整体对市场的信心仍然强劲。在最新的ENR建筑行业置信度指数的结果中可以看到关于全部市场复苏的谨慎乐观态度。新利18备用该指数下降了三点到65的评级。本季度的回归遵循Q2的创纪录的17点增益。

Despite the drop, the index remains at its second highest level since the third quarter of 2018.

The index measures executive sentiment about where the current market will be in the next three to six months and over a 12- to 18-month period, on a 0-100 scale. A rating above 50 shows a growing market. The measure is based on responses by U.S. executives of leading general contractors, subcontractors and design firms on ENR's top lists to surveys sent between Aug. 9 and Sept. 20.

Confidence in the U.S. economy as a whole fell nine points to a 61 rating. Execs remain confident in the economy in the short term, but doubts have crept in about the medium term. Only 13.8% consider the current U.S. economy to be in decline, but that number jumps to 24.1% when considering the outlook in 12-18 months.

Individual market outlooks have stayed strong, including distribution/warehouses (an 84 rating), hospitals/health care (75), transportation (73), multi-unit residential (73), industrial/manufacturing (73) and water/sewerage (72). These remain well above their historical averages. The most notable drop was in the entertainment/theme parks/cultural market, down 13 points to 34 after a 25-point surge in Q2.

Still Trending Upward

A continuing positive trend can be seen in the results of the latest Confindex survey from the Princeton, N.J.-based Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). Each quarter, it polls 200 CFOs from general and civil contractors and subcontractors about markets and business conditions. The Confindex is based on four separate financial and market components, each rated on a scale of 1 to 200. A rating of 100 indicates a stable market; higher ratings indicate market growth.

The Confindex rose to a 119 rating, up 3.5% from Q2’s 115 rating. The “business conditions” index continues to be strong, up 7.4% from last quarter to a rating of 130. It is up 83.1% over the same time last year. The “financial conditions” index stayed stable at 110, while both the “current confidence” and “year ahead outlook” indices rose, to 117 and 121 respectively.

鉴于目前面临业界的问题，调查结果令人惊讶的是，经济顾问Sage政策组和CFMA顾问首席执行官Anirban Basu表示令人惊讶。“我们所听到的只是供应链中断，[无法]找到建筑工人，”他说。“该调查所说的是对建筑服务的需求足以抵消所有人。”

斯巴州认为，对施工的需求是由流动性驱动的。他假设“私募股权公司和其他投资者之间几乎是一种绝望的，即可部署现金。”房地产已成为投资者正在寻求价值的空间，经济学家争辩。“他们必须在某处部署现金。股市现在很昂贵。其他资产类别是一样的，“他补充道。“使用它或失去它。”

即便如此，价格仍然很高，92.7％的恩恩置信指数调查受访者看到了对材料的上价压力。新利18备用供应链问题也似乎不行。“现在很多人都表明这些供应链中断将持续到2023年，”斯巴州警告。

Where are the Workers?

“我从未见过[我们的会员]如此持续地击败鼓。材料价格和劳动力是每个人的心灵的两件事，“CFMA首席执行官Stuart Binstock说。大约80％的会员表示，他们非常关注技能短缺。“即使我们向他们询问其他事情，他们仍然想谈谈技能短缺[和]材料供应，可用性和价格，”他说。

The construction industry is down 232,000 jobs since February 2020, according to Basu. “So ostensibly there should be people looking everywhere for construction work. Where are they?”

For the industry, the shortage of skilled labor is as unavoidable as death and taxes, but this year it is part of a broader workforce trend. Workers across all U.S. industries are making new choices about where they want to work. “We have a hundred job openings for every 83 unemployed people,” Basu says. And yet only 235,000 jobs were added nationwide in August, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Dealing with issues such as discrimination, the high suicide rate among workers and jobsite bullying is vital to expanding the talent pool available, says Binstock. “If you’re in an industry that has all of those issues going on, it’s going to be hard to continue to recruit.” The issues particularly affect women and minorities. Addressing them is “not [just] the right thing to do,” he says, but a business imperative.