In the past few days, we have had our heads down in reports that look out to the year 2026. We are researching construction market trends, products, and outlook measures to see what is to come in the year ahead. Will there be any big surprises in 2026? Let’s take a look.
At the end of last year, NAHB (National Assn. of Home Builders) suggests builder confidence inched higher, but still remains well into the negative territory, as builders deal with rising costs, tariffs, and economic uncertainty. All signs point to builder confidence remain a bit shaky as we enter the New Year.
Here in January, ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) found the construction industry lost 11,000 jobs on net in December. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment grew by 14,000 jobs, an increase of 0.2%. That is a far cry from the nearly half a million jobs the organization said the industry would need on top of the normal pace of hiring.
Meanwhile, AGC (Associated General Contractors) of America notes contractors have dampened expectations for 2026. Key areas still expecting demand include data centers and power facilities. Perhaps the one key takeaway that might be a bit surprising is the net reading for construction of transportation like airport and rail plunged from 29% to 11% during the past year, and the reading for bridge and highway construction dropped 14 percentage points to 10%.
Not surprisingly, many contractors report being impacted by tariffs and immigration enforcement. Looking ahead, respondents say their biggest concerns for 2026 include:
- Economic slowdown or recession
- Insufficient supply of workers or subcontractors
- Rising direct labor costs
- Worker quality
To sum it up, much of what the associations and analysts are saying about construction market conditions is much of the same that we have been saying at the end of 2025.
When it comes to technology, in 2025, there was one big surprise—kind of. The talk of AI shifted from generative AI to agentic AI. Agentic AI was not a common term at the end of 2024, but by the end of 2025, it came up in nearly every conversation about technology.
While the term agentic AI was new mid-year, the idea of a shifting from AI that spits regurgitated information back out to you to more intelligent, agentic AI isn’t necessarily surprising. That is the direction artificial intelligence has been heading all along—and needs to continue to head in the future if we are going to make true strides in the space.
Where does all of this leave us? We are certainly seeing the rise of AI in many industries. Overall construction sentiment is still a little bit shaky. The labor shortage is something to continue to watch. Data centers will surge (literally). Nothing too surprising here. But we are curious, what are you seeing? What trends stand out amid the noise? At the end of 2026, do you expect a new term to rise to the surface regarding AI? Or will we still be talking agentic AI?
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