While Australia’s construction industry remains strong, high material prices and shortage of skilled labour is slowing its expansion. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) construction performance index (pdf) fell further in June down to 55.5 points after hitting a record high in March. Despite the downward trend, a reading of above 50 points indicates…

Caterpillar’s sales rose in the first quarter as market conditions for the machinery company begin to improve and dealers increase their inventory levels. Revenue climbed to $11.89 billion from $10.64 billion thanks to increased sales volume driven by higher end-user demand and changes in dealer inventories. Dealers boosted inventories by $700 million during the first…

Australia’s construction industry is growing at its strongest pace in more than three years, buoyed by home building activity against the backdrop of record house prices and mortgage lending. Low interest rates and the federal government’s HomeBuilder stimulus measures are among the factors driving the home building activity. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance…

WASHINGTON—Spending on U.S. construction projects increased 0.9 percent in November as strength in home building offset weakness in other parts of the construction industry. The November gain followed a bigger 1.6 percent rise in October and left construction spending up 4.4 percent through the first 11 months of 2020 compared to the same period in…