• 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.