► On the Record

"There are plenty of forecasters who believe that private construction starts will emerge in time to fill the void created by the end of stimulus, but the recovery of privately financed construction has yet to become apparent."

-- Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. Chief Economist Anirban Basu, following today’s report from the U.S. Census Bureau that private nonresidential construction spending (nationwide) slipped 0.7 percent in October, and is down 20.7 percent from a year ago.