In addition to providing a bullish forecast on the U.S. energy sector, an insurance industry economist predicts better times ahead of commercial insurers with premiums tied to the construction and manufacturing sector.

Construction employment continued to rise throughout the year last year, Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, said, during a presentation at a meeting of the Casualty Actuaries of Greater New York late last year. The pickup in construction activity “will help the economy see its way through 2013 and 2014,” he said. “We probably feel that we totally emerged from the Great recession until 2014,” he added.