Dive Brief:

• Gilbane erects buildings, but it also constructs an economic forecast by looking at the available data, and the company says in its latest quarterly report that it expects total U.S. construction spending to end 2014 6.6% above where it finished 2013.
• In a switch from the way recent years have gone, Gilbane said it believes non-residential construction will be a big part of the growth.
• Noting that even the residential sector has had up-and-down spending, Gilbane said it expects things to smooth out over the rest of this year.

Dive Insight:

Contractors' margins have not been growing as fast as they did last year, Gilbane's report said, but the company expects rising business volume to let margins get growing again through this year.