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    Analysis

    June 22, 2025

    SMU Community Chat: Wednesday With AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson

    Written by Michael Cowden

    Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 25, at 11 a.m. ET.

    The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here.

    We’ll have a lot to talk about because construction is at the intersection of so many of today’s hot-button issues. The main question: Will construction thrive or dive in the rest of ’25? (Nothing wrong with a rhyme, even in serious times.)

    To answer that, Simonson will discuss the effect of tariffs on costs for steel and other building materials. He’ll also explore the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on a construction workforce that relies heavily on immigrant labor. (Did you know that more than 60% of drywall installers and more than 50% of roofers were born abroad?)

    Then there is the matter of interest rates. Builders might want to see the Federal Reserve lower rates before they unleash new projects. But the Fed, leery of potential tariff-related inflation, might not have much leeway to cut rates. What gives?

    We’ll analyze it all through the lens of the latest data. Among the highlights: changes in construction spending by category, construction employment nationally and by state, and materials costs.

    Why should you listen?

    Because the construction sector matters to your business. And because AGC is the leading association for the US construction industry, with more than 27,000 member firms across a range of markets. Also, Simonson has been chief economist at AGC since 2001, so he has seen more than a few construction cycles.

    As always, we’ll keep it to about 45 minutes. You can drop in, learn something – and then get on with your day. We’ll take your questions too. So remember to think of some good ones for the Q&A.

    Editor’s note

    If you’d like to see past Community Chat webinars, you can find those here. I suggest checking out a couple of good ones that we’ve recorded over the last month with two of our most popular guest speakers: Barry Zekelman, CEO and executive chairman of Zekelman Industries, and Timna Tanners, managing director at Wolfe Research.

    Michael Cowden

    Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

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