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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 April 1, 2015
The value of construction put-in-place slipped 0.1% during February following a 1.7% drop in January, revised from -1.1%. No change had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private construction activity gained 0.2% (1.8% y/y) after its 1.1% January drop. Nonresidential building activity improved 0.5% (5.9% y/y). Office construction rose 2.7% (22.8% y/y) but commercial building fell 2.4% (+13.1% y/y). Multi-retail declined 3.1% (-1.7% y/y). Residential building slipped 0.2% (-2.1% y/y), reversing a 0.2% January rise. Single-family building fell 1.4% (+9.7% y/y) while multi-family construction jumped 4.1% (31.5% y/y). Spending on improvements edged 0.3% higher (-28.4% y/y).
Public sector building activity eased 0.8% (+3.1% y/y) following a 3.2% drop. Nonresidential building fell 0.8% (+2.9% y/y) but commercial construction rebounded 12.0% (26.5% y/y) after an 8.4% drop. Power construction fell 16.0% (-19.7% y/y) while highways and streets construction edged 0.2% lower (+2.8% y/y). Construction here amounts to 32% of public sector building activity.
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (%) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.1 | -1.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 9.2 |
| Private | 0.2 | -1.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 8.0 | 10.1 | 16.0 |
| Residential | -0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | -2.1 | 5.1 | 20.4 | 14.4 |
| Nonresidential | 0.5 | -2.4 | 1.1 | 5.9 | 11.2 | 0.6 | 17.5 |
| Public | -0.8 | -3.2 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.5 | -3.5 | -2.8 |
