The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) recently released its 2023 Construction Outlook National Survey, bringing plenty of positive and negative predictions for the coming year.

Builders are cautiously optimistic when it comes to infrastructure work this year thanks to federal funding, but they also expect supply chain problems and hiring difficulties to continue, according to the report. Myriad affects from COVID-19 continue to impact the industry, particularly supply chains, and it remains the top concern for builders who responded to the survey as the uncertainty has ultimately led to higher costs and lower profits for many. And with inflation and talks of a recession continuing to persist, contractors report less confidence about work in the private sector. 

“Even when we’ve had recessions or slow growth expectations for the economy, contractors are by nature optimists,” said AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson in a webinar about the survey. “But it is notable that in nearly all of these categories, particularly on the private side, contractors have lower net positive readings or deeper negative readings than they did in previous years.”

Read the full article from Construction Dive for more key takeaways and predictions from the 2023 survey.