·
The value of construction put in place rose 0.7% in October though the
September gain was revised lower to 0.2% due to a lessened increase in
residential building.
· Residential building in October continued at about its earlier pace and rose 0.6%. New single family building rose 0.7% (11.6% y/y) following an upwardly revised 1.7% surge. The value of residential improvements fell 0.6% (-4.5% y/y) and a previously reported moderate September decline was revised to a 2.6% collapse.
· Nonresidential building activity slipped moderately for the second consecutive month thanks to lower office construction (+5.9% y/y) which had been strong.
· Public construction spending also fell moderately for the second month as construction activity on highways & streets, nearly one third of the value of public construction spending slipped 0.2% (14.0% y/y) after a 2.0% September surge.
· These more detailed categories represent the Census Bureau’s reclassification of construction activity into end-use groups. Finer detail is available for many of the categories; for instance, commercial construction is shown for Automotive sales and parking facilities, drugstores, building supply stores, and both commercial warehouses and mini-storage facilities. Note that start dates vary for some seasonally adjusted line items in 2000 and 2002 and that constant-dollar data are no longer computed.