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Economy in Brief
U.S. Trade Deficit Shrinks as Imports Fall Sharply
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined to $47.20 billion during October...
U.S. Factory Sector Orders Increase; Inventory Growth Decelerates
Factory orders improved 0.3% (-1.2% y/y) during October...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Fall to 7-Month Low
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 10,000 to 203,000 (-11.4% y/y) during the week ending November 30...
U.S. ADP Private Payroll Increase Disappoints
The ADP National Employment Report indicated that private nonfarm payrolls rose 67,000 (1.5% y/y) during November...
U.S. ISM Nonmanufacturing Index Weakens
The ISM Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Activity declined to 53.9 during November...
by Tom Moeller October 1, 2019
The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.1% (-1.9% y/y) during August following a little-revised stability in July. A 0.4% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Construction activity in the private sector was unchanged (-4.0% y/y) following four consecutive months of decline. Residential construction rose 0.9% (-5.0% y/y) after a 0.6% gain. Single-family building jumped 1.4% (-6.6% y/y) after a like increase in July. The value of home improvements rose 0.8% (-6.4% y/y) after a 0.5% slip. Multi-family construction declined 0.9% (+7.4% y/y), the fifth monthly decline this year.
Private nonresidential building activity declined 1.0% (-2.8% y/y) during August, down for the fourth month in the last five. Health care construction weakened 2.0% (+4.6% y/y). Transportation sector construction held steady (-1.5% y/y). Commercial building declined 2.8% (-13.0% y/y) and power construction was off 1.7% (-4.3% y/y). Office construction was little changed (6.2% y/y). To the up-side, factory sector building rose 0.5% (1.6% y/y).
Public sector building activity increased 0.4% during August (4.6% y/y) following a 1.4% increase. Construction of highways & streets rose 0.6% (4.1% y/y). It accounts for roughly one-third of the dollar value of public building activity. Transportation sector building eased 0.5 % (+8.9% y/y) for a second month while commercial construction declined 6.8% (23.6% y/y). Health care building improved 0.7% (-4.9% 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.
Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Aug | Jul | Jun | Aug Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.9 | -1.9 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 7.3 |
Private | 0.0 | -0.5 | -0.4 | -4.0 | 3.1 | 6.2 | 9.3 |
Residential | 0.9 | 0.6 | -0.8 | -5.0 | 2.8 | 12.5 | 10.8 |
Nonresidential | -1.0 | -1.6 | 0.1 | -2.8 | 3.4 | -0.5 | 7.8 |
Public | 0.4 | 1.4 | -2.6 | 4.6 | 3.3 | -0.2 | 1.6 |