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Economy in Brief
Kansas City Federal Reserve Factory Index Hits Record High
The Kansas City Fed reported that its index of regional manufacturing sector business activity surged to a record 26...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Decline Sharply
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply to 209,000 (-17.1% y/y)...
German Confidence Flattens and Falters
German confidence for May is mooted at a 97.8% queue percentile standing...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Are Little Changed; Rates Remain High
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Volume Index eased 0.2% last week (-1.9% y/y)...
Japan Shows Very Moderate Growth As Trade War Clouds Gather
Japan’s sector indexes showed a solid gain in February...
by Tom Moeller March 1, 2012
After several months of strong increase, construction spending slipped in January. The 0.1% decline followed a 1.4% December rise and a 1.9% November gain that was revised up sharply. Gains in the Summer also were solid. Consensus expectations were for a 0.8% January increase and the level of activity was at its highest since December 2009.
Private sector spending slipped marginally due to a 1.5% decline (+16.6% y/y) in nonresidential building. Residential building rose 1.8% (6.7% y/y) as single-family construction increased 2.5% (5.5% y/y) and multi-family rose 0.7% (20.0% y/y). The value of spending on improvements increased 1.3% (6.4% y/y). The value of public sector building activity slipped 0.2% in January but the y/y decline stabilized at -0.5% following the worst comparison of -8.3% this past Summer.
The construction put-in-place figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in Haver's AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (%) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 7.1 | -1.7 | -11.3 | -15.3 |
| Private | -0.0 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 11.7 | 1.0 | -15.2 | -22.4 |
| Residential | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 6.7 | -0.7 | -2.9 | -29.9 |
| Nonresidential | -1.5 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 16.6 | 2.5 | -24.0 | -16.0 |
| Public | -0.2 | 0.7 | 2.3 | -0.5 | -6.0 | -3.9 | 2.1 |
