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Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Winnie Tapasanun December 1, 2021
• Residential private construction declines for the third time in four months.
• Nonresidential private construction is up modestly after virtually unchanged.
• Public sector construction gains for the third time in four months.
The value of construction put-in-place rose 0.2% m/m (8.6% y/y) in October after a 0.1% downtick in September (originally -0.5%) and a 1.0% gain in August (originally 0.1%), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A 0.5% October increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private construction fell 0.2% (+11.1% y/y) in October, the third m/m fall in four months, after a 0.1% dip in September. Residential private construction slid 0.5% (+16.7% y/y), the third m/m slide in four months, after a 0.2% easing. Single-family building fell 0.8% (+23.1% y/y), the third consecutive m/m fall, on top of a 0.2% decline. Multi-family building dipped 0.1% (+9.9% y/y) vs. a 0.1% uptick. Home improvement expenditures fell 0.2% (+10.2% y/y), down for the third time in four months.
Nonresidential private construction rose 0.2% in October (3.1% y/y) following 0.0% in September and two consecutive monthly increases. Amusement & recreation construction strengthened 6.0% (0.5% y/y), the fourth straight m/m rise. Religious construction rose 2.4% (-9.8% y/y), the third m/m rise in four months. Communication private construction grew 1.1% (-0.6% y/y), the largest m/m gain since July 2020. Heath care private construction gained 0.7% (3.8% y/y) vs. two successive monthly drops. Transportation building recovered 0.6% (-3.9% y/y), the first m/m advance since June. Educational private construction rose 0.4% (-5.2% y/y), the fourth consecutive m/m rise. Manufacturing construction grew 0.3% (13.2% y/y), the third straight m/m gain. Office building increased 0.2% (0.7% y/y). To the downside, lodging construction slid 1.3% (-32.4% y/y), the sixth m/m slide in seven months. Utilities private construction fell 0.6% (+2.9% y/y), the third successive m/m fall. Commercial building dipped 0.1% (+12.5% y/y) following nine straight m/m gains.
The value of public construction rose 1.8% in October (0.4% y/y), the third m/m gain in four months, after a 0.1% dip in September, with residential public construction up 2.9% (0.5% y/y) and nonresidential public construction up 1.8% (0.4% y/y). Conservation & development public construction jumped 16.4% (-1.4% y/y), the first m/m gain since June and the largest since April 2010. Health care public construction rebounded 4.5% (11.4% y/y), the fourth m/m gain in five months. Commercial public construction rose 3.6% (-9.3% y/y) following two straight m/m declines. Spending on highways & streets, which makes up 29.0% of public construction spending, recovered 2.4% (2.9% y/y), the third m/m rise in four months. Educational public construction rose 0.2% (-3.1% y/y), the third successive m/m rise. Utilities public construction ticked up 0.1% (48.4% y/y), the fourth m/m increase in five months.
The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946 can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations reading is in the AS1REPNA database.
Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Oct | Sep | Aug | Oct Y/Y | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 0.2 | -0.1 | 1.0 | 8.6 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
Private | -0.2 | -0.1 | 0.8 | 11.1 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 4.0 |
Residential | -0.5 | -0.2 | 0.6 | 16.7 | 15.1 | -2.0 | 3.4 |
Nonresidential | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.1 | -4.2 | 7.5 | 4.8 |
Public | 1.8 | -0.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 4.9 | 11.0 | 4.6 |