While contractors were optimistic that costs would stay low and contribute to a strong fiscal 2020 as recently as January, the coronavirus pandemic has upended construction just as it has every other industry.
“It’s becoming clearer day by day that construction will be negatively affected for months by shortages of key workers or key materials,” says Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America.” Firms had already begun sending reports to the trade group about their experiences dealing with the fast-spreading virus.