Dive Brief:

• The Nonresidential Construction Index (NRCI) compiled by consulting company FMI stands at 57.4 for the current quarter of this year, which is in the growth range but is down 2.9 from the third quarter.
• The 57.4 is above the corresponding 2012 quarter, and the index had seen five quarters of growth until the current period.
• FMI said in the report summary that the pullback is not at all about construction "taking a breather" after growth, but rather "might just be because we live in a time of political infighting and uncertainty as to the direction of the country when it concerns economic decisions—and many social policy decisions."

Dive Insight:

The FMI index is based on "a sampling of construction industry executives voluntarily serving as panelists for this survey." That panel said that it found labor and material costs are down, but the overall economy and panelists' local economies are down, their businesses and the nonresidential markets where they work are down, and productivity is down. They told FMI that there shouldn't even be a debate over the debt ceiling because debt is simply an obligation, not a choice, and there should be more discussion about where and how to cut expenses.