Infrastructure contract awards jump a record 25% as federal funds flow

The value of contract awards spiked by 25% last year as federal infrastructure funds began to flow to state and local governments. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association, which tracks monthly data on the value of state and local government contract awards, said the 25% increase in calendar 2022 marked the largest growth rate since it began collecting the data in 1997. The value of contract awards is an important number because it signals the size of the project pipeline across the country, said ARTBA chief economist Alison Premo Black.

Check out our latest Rising Stars and the inaugural class of Muni Hall of Famers.

Midwest municipal bond sales slid by 17.4% in 2022 to $65.3 billion from $79 billion a year earlier as issuers soured on borrowing amid rising interest rates and a rockier market. A sharp 49.2% drop in refunding volume from 2021 was the biggest drag on issuance, but new money volume was also down, according to data from Refinitiv.

Click here for our coverage of the midterm elections.

Post-COVID turnover in the state and local workforce, including elevated numbers of retirements and resignations, is forcing municipal bond analysts to rethink their assessment of pension risk, writes Les Richmond, vice president and pension actuary at Build America Mutual. It introduces the possibility that pension and other postemployment benefit costs grow so much that they impair a bond issuer's ability to pay its debts, he writes.

If you missed any of our ESG Week coverage, make sure to check our ESG special section which has all the articles, the podcast and a taped version of the Leaders event.

Detroit revenues remain on an upward trajectory thanks to healthier income and utility tax prospects, but clouds loom over the toll of a potential recession and longer-term pressures lie ahead as pension contributions resume.

Register now for The Bond Buyer Texas Public Finance conference in Austin April 12-14.?

Municipals were weaker Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected consumer price index report showed inflation may take longer to combat, and require higher rates, than the Federal Reserve planned. Triple-A benchmarks were cut one to six basis points.

Watch the acceptance speeches and look at some of the photos from our Deal of the Year event in New York City.?

Wells Fargo & Co. announced Julie Burger and Mark Burns as co-heads of its public finance division. They will report to Chuck Peck, head of Wells Fargo's municipal products group, effective Feb. 27. Peter Cannava, current head of public finance, will become the leader of multifamily capital in Wells Fargo's commercial real estate division.

Sign up here to receive The Bond Buyer's complete newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily.