The shutdown crisis escalates: government RIF plans signal permanent layoffs, amplifying risks of lost spending, weak confidence, and lasting economic harm.

The Home Insurance Crisis? Climate change disasters. Skyrocketing premiums. Insurers leaving markets. Construction codes' dramatic shifts.

The Sullivan Report's latest update details alternative economic scenarios to its Baseline forecast. It assesses the potential for different outcomes under various assumptions regarding the impact of tariffs, monetary policy, and overall economic resiliency through 2030.

The Sullivan Report notes that The Fed faces new risks as job growth weakens, unemployment claims rise, and credit card debt surges - threatening consumer spending ahead of the FOMC meeting.

Following the last employment report and revisions, The Fed cutting rates in September was anticipated. Stronger-than-expected PPI data challenges expectations of a Fed rate cut in September, with core prices rising 3.7% annually.

Oil prices are expected to decline this year and next which will impact inflation, consumer spending, some regional economic performances, drilling activity, and oil-well cement consumption in the United States. Each of these factors impact the near-term outlook for the economy and cement consumption.

The data released this week [July 28, 2025] that stagflation is now here. It suggests a near-term future of higher inflation in the context of a weakening economy and job market. This makes policy decisions on interest rates more difficult. The urgency to cut rates carries more weight in the context of the weakening of the labor market.

According to The Sullivan Report, of the total 5.3% drop in 2024 total cement and concrete consumption, retail construction accounted for nearly 1/4 of the decline. Tracking retail construction is critical to assessing the economic impact of the downturn in 2025 cement and concrete construction - and tracking the potential timing and recovery that may materialize in 2026.

Two reports released recently suggest single-family construction may be headed for a larger correction than many expected. Even though the builder confidence in NAHB Homebuilder Confidence for July 2025 showed a one-point improvement, it now stands at 38 – extremely pessimistic.

With the passing of OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allocated $46.5 billion for “physical barriers” along the Mexican border including walls, fencing, pedestrian and vehicle barriers, security access roads, and surveillance equipment. As The Sullivan Report notes, one aspect of OBBBA is how the building of The Wall will have a positive impact on the 2025 - 2030 economic forecast for cement and concrete consumption.