The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.1% (-2.3% y/y) during July following two months of 0.7% decline. June's drop was revised from -1.3%. A 0.3% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.

Construction activity in the private sector eased 0.1% (-4.8% y/y) and reversed June's improvement. Residential construction rose 0.6% (-5.9% y/y), the first increase since December. Single-family building jumped 1.4% (-8.5% y/y), the first meaningful increase since early last year. The value of home improvements rose 0.2% (-5.4% y/y) after a 0.7% rise. Multi-family construction declined 1.1% (+6.2% y/y) following a 0.8% drop.

Private nonresidential building activity declined 0.8% (-3.4% y/y) during July, down for the third month in the last four. Manufacturing building rose 1.9% (4.4% y/y) and health care construction improved 1.5% (10.5% y/y). Office construction increased 0.3% (6.2% y/y). These gains were offset by a 5.1% weakening (-2.3% y/y) in transportation sector construction. Commercial building declined 3.6% (-21.2% y/y) and power construction slipped 0.3% (+0.5% y/y).

Public sector building activity increased 0.4% during July (5.2% y/y) following two months of sharp decline. Construction of highways & streets fell 2.7% (+6.5% y/y). It accounts for roughly one-third of the dollar value of public building activity. Transportation sector building improved 0.7% (8.9% y/y) while commercial construction jumped 8.9% (27.2% y/y). Health care building eased 0.6% (-8.0% y/y).

The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946, are in Haver's USECON database. The expectations reading can be found in the AS1REPNA database.