Over the weekend, President Trump signed a massive $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill, averting a government shutdown that was due to start on Tuesday if an agreement was not reached beforehand. 

NEW JERSEY (Dec. 16, 2020)—Total construction starts fell 2% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $797.5 billion following a strong gain in October. Residential starts fell 7% during the month, while nonbuilding starts dropped 14%. Nonresidential building construction starts, however, rose 19% in November. Total construction starts fell in three regions, the South Atlantic, West, and Northeast, but rose in two, the Midwest and South Central.

NATIONAL—This week, the Associated Builders and Contractors of America (ABC), the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation (the Foundation), and NTEA, the association for the work truck industry, released three economic outlooks for the United States construction industry in 2021. The forecasts reported mixed predictions about the year ahead. Here's what you need to know: