But the fragility is also visible far from New York’s financial district.
Ms. Soroka, in Daytona Beach, runs a company that gathers information on development projects, allowing contractors and workers to identify potential opportunities.
The company, Builders Exchange and Reprographics, employed eight people before the crisis. Ms. Soroka cut half of those jobs during the crisis, and she has not hired anyone as revenue has recovered. In part, she said, technology has reduced her need for workers. Local governments increasingly post the information she needs on websites, eliminating the need for people to collect documents in person.
But Ms. Soroka said she also remained nervous about investing in her company. Even in the 10th year of an economic expansion — one of the longest periods of growth in American history — she said she was reluctant to spend on office decorations, or buy new equipment.
“I tiptoe into things,” she said, “because I don’t know how sustainable this is going to be.”
The Fed’s interest rate increases have added a new reason for anxiety. Higher borrowing costs appear to be pinching housing, as sales of new and existing homes have softened in recent months. The government reported Tuesday that housing starts increased in November, but the change was driven by a rise in multifamily construction, which tends to vary month to month.
Ms. Soroka said that developers in the Central Florida region that she watches closely are showing signs of increased caution. For example, she said, developers appear to be breaking projects into a larger number of phases, so the initial increment of construction is smaller. A developer might obtain permits for a 500-lot subdivision, she said, but begin with a section of 50 homes.
“I know a lot of business owners who are thinking about being a little more liquid, which means that money is not going into the economy,” she said. “They’re just holding it.”
from Just News Update https://ift.tt/2rLvi28
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