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Economy in Brief
Composite PMIs Step Back But Most Still Show Expansion
The S&P global composite PMIs took a turn for the worse in June...
U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index Falls Back in June to the Lowest Level in Two Years
The ISM U.S. manufacturing PMI fell to 53.0 in June...
U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Dips in May After Seven Straight Monthly Rises
The value of construction put-in-place ticked down 0.1% m/m (+9.7% y/y) in May...
Developed Economies Manufacturing Sectors Hit Hard in June
Among the 18 countries in the table that report manufacturing PMI data in June, only four show m/m improvements...
U.S. Income Gained, Spending Slowed in May
Personal income growth remained solid while household spending slowed in May...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller August 3, 2020
• Construction spending scaled back for the fourth straight month.
• Residential building leads the way lower.
Construction activity remains weak. The value of construction put-in-place eased 0.7% (+0.1 y/y) during June following a 1.7% May decline, revised from -2.1%. A 1.0% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private construction weakened 0.7% in June (-1.9% y/y) after falling sharply for three straight months. Private residential construction fell 1.5% (-0.8% y/y), down for the fourth consecutive month. Single-family building weakened 3.6% (-7.6% y/y) after falling by 7.7% in each of the prior two months. Spending on improvements dropped 0.4% (+10.0% y/y) after edging 0.7% higher in May. To the upside, multi-family construction activity increased 3.0% (-2.1% y/y), up for the fifth month this year.
Nonresidential private construction edged 0.2% higher (-3.2% y/y). Commercial building fell 1.3% (+2.0% y/y) while office construction improved 0.3% (-3.5% y/y). Manufacturing building strengthened 1.7% (-9.1% y/y) while health care rose 1.7% (0.6% y/y). Amusement facility building remained under pressure and fell 6.2% (-14.7% y/y).
Public construction weakened 0.7% (6.2% y/y). Within the two of the largest sectors, road construction weakened 1.7% (+3.7% y/y) and school building fell 2.7% (+5.5% y/y). Office construction eased 0.3% (+6.8% y/y).
The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946 can be found in Haver's USECON database. Mortgage interest rates and loan applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association are in the SURVEYW database and the expectations reading is in the AS1REPNA database.
Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Jun | May | Apr | Jun Y/Y | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | -0.7 | -1.7 | -3.4 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 4.7 |
Private | -0.7 | -2.7 | -3.7 | -1.9 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 6.3 |
Residential | -1.5 | -3.6 | -4.4 | -0.8 | -2.5 | 3.5 | 12.5 |
Nonresidential | 0.2 | -1.5 | -2.9 | -3.2 | 4.4 | 4.7 | -0.4 |
Public | -0.7 | 1.3 | -2.5 | 6.2 | 8.0 | 4.4 | -0.2 |