REPORT UPDATE: CASES RISE, ACTIVITY LEVELS FLUCTUATE
August 21st, 2020
OxBlue’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools continue to be used to measure the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on construction activity across the United States. The full analysis monitors construction projects across all 50 states and more than 100 metropolitan areas between March 1st, 2020, and August 21st, 2020.
Since our last report, the six states with the largest initial decreases in construction activity (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington, New York and Colorado) have seen recent surges above pre-pandemic activity levels. Michigan remains the state with the largest boost, experiencing an over 50% increase. All six states have maintained a steady level of COVID-19 cases over the past month.
Georgia, which was recently named the “state you’re ‘most likely’ to be exposed to coronavirus,” continues to keep its activity levels steady. Meanwhile, California is facing the worst outbreak the country has experienced thus far and has seen decreasing levels over the past month. However, the state is currently battling seasonal wildfires, and decreases cannot be definitively linked to either crisis.
On a national level, activity remains above the pre-pandemic levels.
OxBlue will share regular updates on how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the construction industry and on the technology being developed to combat the spread of the virus.
If you have any questions, please contact us at (888) 849-2583 or online at oxblue.com/contact.
Notes: The time period in this analysis includes the 122 workdays (weekdays excluding holidays) from March 1, 2020, to August 21, 2020. The OxBlue Construction Activity Index is a 5-day moving average. The current baseline for the OxBlue Activity Index is the average activity level for the work days from March 2 to March 19, the date Pennsylvania issued its strict shelter-in-place order. The data analyzed is from commercial construction projects and excludes single-family residential construction. States with low levels of construction activity and without statistically significant data have been excluded for accuracy. National construction activity is based on a weighted average of the construction volume for each state.