WASHINGTON: With the first half of 2016 now behind us, it seems like a great time to examine the performance of the local economy. It is a bit difficult to do a comprehensive review since not all of the numbers are available for mid-year, but we will address some of the primary components to get a sense of how the economy is performing.
Overall activity for the first six months of 2016 was $152.2 million, compared with $161.5 million during the same time frame last year. The decline stems from a drop in commercial construction, which decreased about 18.4 percent from $70.1 million in the first six months of 2015 to $57.2 million this year. Commercial addition and alteration activity was down from $48.9 million last year to $25.7 million through June. This is offset by increases in schools, public works, recreational and professional construction.
