Q4

2022

the look
ahead

The Federal Reserve’s rate hikes began to temper inflation in 2022’s fourth quarter, but the economy continues to put up strong numbers due to tightness in the labor market.

Consumer Spending, 2023 Outlook, and Mission Critical Spotlight

National Market Overview

The Federal Reserve’s rate hikes began to temper inflation in 2022’s fourth quarter, but the economy continues to put up strong numbers due to tightness in the labor market. Discipline is the key word heading into 2023—discipline to hold rising interest rates to assure inflation is halted. In this issue, we dive into the national strategy our mission critical team is employing to deal with resource challenges across the country. We also examine how consumer spending, the housing market, and the steep increase in grocery prices are impacting the economy, particularly construction.

Construction
Indicators

The growth of aggregate input prices is expected to moderate until demand strengthens, bringing pricing patterns back to more familiar levels.

“We have found that by applying national strategies and sharing resources instead of just looking at each individual project’s potential hurdles, we’ve helped all our teams across the U.S. meet the demands of these fast-paced mega projects and scaling requirements of the owners.”

Brian Pung

Vice President

Preconstruction Services Director

Mission Critical Spotlight

In this Spotlight, Brian Pung, Preconstruction Director for JE Dunn’s mission critical team, explains what makes data centers unique, the trends steering the industry, and what we are doing to remain flexible to adapt to the known and unknown challenges on the horizon.

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Insights

Consumer Spending

In previous issues of The Look Ahead, we took an in-depth look at how The Federal Reserve uses interest rates to control inflation and the cause and effect between the labor shortage and extended periods of inflation. In construction, the supply chain and escalation are still the primary issues affecting project success.

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Insights

Groceries

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the items seeing an above average rate of inflation is food. People are spending more dollars on groceries today than they were pre-pandemic, but they are buying fewer groceries. In real terms (dollars minus inflation), they are spending a great deal less and being fiscally conservative.

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