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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Declines in January
Consumers reduced credit balances further in January...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $68.2 Billion in January
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $68.2 billion in January...
German Order Growth Gets Back in Gear Despite the Headwinds
German order growth is back in gear with total orders rising by 1.4% m/m in January...
U.S. Factory Orders & Shipments Rise Again in January
Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 2, 2018
The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.1% (3.7% y/y) during February following unrevised stability in January. A 0.4% rise in building activity had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private sector building activity increased 0.7% (3.8% y/y) after a 0.7% decline in January. Nonresidential construction improved 1.5% (1.3% y/y) and reversed January's shortfall. Office construction strengthened 6.5 (3.0% y/y) and commercial construction rose 1.2% (7.4% y/y). Transportation building activity declined 1.3% (+34.4% y/y). Residential building nudged 0.1% higher (6.1% y/y) for a second straight month. Single-family housing activity rose 0.9% (9.5% y/y) for a second straight month. Multi-family construction increased 1.2% (-0.0% y/y) and reversed a 1.7% decline. The value of improvements declined 1.5% (+3.8% y/y), down for the second straight month.
The value of public sector building activity declined 2.1% (+3.7% y/y) and reversed the prior month's increase. Highway and street construction, the largest component of public sector construction, eased 0.2% (-3.1% y/y). Educational building slipped 0.5% (+4.2% y/y) and office construction fell 0.6% (+20.6% y/y). Water supply construction rose 1.3% (5.9% y/y).
The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946, are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations reading can be found in the AS1REPNA database.
Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 0.1 | -0.0 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 10.7 |
Private | 0.7 | -0.7 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 9.2 | 12.9 |
Residential | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.1 | 10.9 | 10.5 | 14.2 |
Nonresidential | 1.5 | -1.7 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 11.5 |
Public | -2.1 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 3.7 | -2.5 | -1.2 | 5.1 |