About Construction Barometer™

The Construction Barometer is a quarterly composite index for the commercial construction industry based on: 

• Quantitative information (economic data and regional business statistics) plus
• Qualitative information (subjective information from a panel of industry experts).

The Construction Barometer™ score, is a mathematical combination of both indices, designed by UNCC professor Tony Plath for Carolinas AGC. It includes about 24,800 pieces of data.

The Construction Barometer tracks business conditions in three categories across five geographic areas for North and South Carolina:

• Employment and labor trends,
• Business and economic trends, and
• Financing availability.

What makes this index unique is that much of the information used to calculate it cannot be readily obtained through existing public data sources. Instead, a large part of the index is a reflection of the perceptions and projections from members of our industry panel.

• One hundred industry CEO’s and top managers from North and South Carolina constitute the panel for the qualitative part of the index. Eighty percent of the panel is made up of Carolinas AGC contractors; twenty percent includes allied firms such as suppliers, architects, bonding/insurance agents and accountants.
• For the quantitative series, sample data researched to build this index includes:

--Employment and Labor: unemployment rates, wage rates, new positions anticipated

--Business and Economic Trends: gross state product, contractors’ business volume, material costs, highway, building and utility construction activity, heavy equipment purchase and rental expenditures, residential permits issued, DOT funding.

--Financing Availability: commercial and industrial loans granted by area banks, prevailing short and long-term US Treasury bill rates, commercial credit approved.

Carolinas AGC is the nation’s largest chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, with 3,500 member firms in NC and SC. Carolinas AGC developed the Construction Barometer in response to the construction community’s need for a Carolinas-based market planning tool, as part of our mission to build members’ businesses through workforce development, business development, profit management, and a self-insured workers’ compensation trust. More than 75% of commercial and industrial construction (buildings, highways/bridges, utility facilities) in North and South Carolina is performed by Carolinas AGC member contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.