Dive Brief:

• Optimists about the construction market outnumber pessimists in almost every category and do so substantially for private office building, manufacturing, the power industry, hospital and education together and the retail, warehouse and lodging segments taken as a group.
• Those are among the findings from a survey that Associated General Contractors did of companies, which also found net positive outlooks for water and sewer work and for highway construction.
• Hiring looks like it will go up, too, although modestly – 86% of the companies told the association they would likely add positions, but only 25 people or less.

Dive Insight:

With the recovery comes higher prices, however. Of the companies that took part in the survey, 90% said they expect material expenses to go up between 1% and 5%, and 82% said they expect their workers health insurance will cost more this year.