Article source: ConstructConnect

U.S. Economy Stumbling Blocks

A year and a half into the coronavirus health crisis, the economies of the U.S. and Canada have been running into some stumbling blocks. In the U.S., GDP growth in Q1 and Q2 of this year, at +6.3% and +6.5% respectively (quarter to quarter annualized), were looking pretty good, and not far out of line with the +7.0% forecast figure for the full year adopted by many analysts. But the third quarter has not been looking as sparky.

Shortages of components and labor have cut into production across a wide swath. With some major automakers, motor vehicle assembly lines have temporarily ceased operations because computer chips have not been arriving from China as contracted.

With major retailers, imported consumer goods are not making it to the interior of the country because of tie-ups at the ports. There’s a logjam of container ships off the coast of California.

The cost of shipping goods from overseas has risen dramatically. When firms turn to the air as an alternative means of moving cargo, they’re finding there hasn’t yet been a sufficient increase in capacity.
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