Analysis: Private construction continues to lag in NH

State-by-state report tracks 13-year decline in economic impact

The share of the New Hampshire economy that can be attributed to the state’s private construction industry continued to fall in 2014, according to a state-by-state analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors.

That share – the value added by the private construction industry as a percentage of inflation-adjusted state gross domestic product – stood at 3.3 percent in 2014, ABC reported.

The drop continues a trend that began after 2001, when the value added by the private construction industry in the state stood at 6.3 percent. Since then, that figure has dropped each successive year.

New Hampshire is by no means alone in experiencing such a continuing decline, according to ABC. In fact, nationally the drop has been longer-lasting, with the value added by the private construction industry falling ever since 1997, when it stood at 6.17 percent. In 2014, the U.S. percentage fell to a low of 3.66 percent.

ABC economist Bernard Markstein noted that the U.S. economy “advanced with fits and starts throughout 2014. Every time the data suggested the economy was finally picking up speed, it was followed by numbers indicating that the economy had stumbled.” All told, he said, “2014 proved to be a more difficult year for construction than most forecasters expected.” He said that, despite some bright spots, the value added by the private construction industry fell in real terms in 2014.

Markstein did say that, for 2015, “the U.S. economy is likely to perform somewhat better, which will benefit the U.S. construction industry.”

Complete national rankings can be found here.