A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is performing at 22% below pre-pandemic level, said Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge Data & Analytics, during the "Dodge Construction Outlook 2021 - First Quarter Update" webinar on March 4. However, with a new stimulus bill expected to pass in the next few weeks, Dodge predicts 4.8% GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021.
“The U.S. will be well on its way to widespread adoption of the vaccine and herd immunity by the mid-point of this year,” Branch said. “The vaccine in conjunction with the stimulus leads to progressively accelerating economic growth as we go through the year.”