Global| Oct 03 2016U.S. Construction Activity Declines
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place fell 0.7% (-0.3% y/y) during August following a 0.3% July dip, revised from little change. The value of construction spending has been moving sideways since the middle of last year, following [...]
The value of construction put-in-place fell 0.7% (-0.3% y/y) during August following a 0.3% July dip, revised from little change. The value of construction spending has been moving sideways since the middle of last year, following strong gains from 2012 through 2015. A 0.3% August increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Building activity in the private sector eased 0.3% (+2.7% y/y), reflecting a 0.3% dip (+1.4% y/y) in residential construction which followed a 0.5% rise. Single-family building fell 0.9% (-1.5% y/y), pushing it down 5.7% below the peak nine months ago. The value of improvements eased 0.3% (+1.5% y/y). To the upside, the value of multi-family building jumped 2.4% (13.9% y/y).
Nonresidential building activity declined 0.4% (+4.2% y/y) following a 1.0% jump. It was the first drop since April. Office building jumped 2.3% (28.0% y/y) while amusement construction improved 2.1% (18.8% y/y). Offsetting these gains was a 2.0% drop (+6.9% y/y) in commercial construction, and a 1.4% drop (-7.4% y/y) in factory construction.
The value of public sector building activity declined 2.0% (-8.8% y/y), the fifth decline in the last six months. Transportation building declined 8.8% (-13.5% y/y). Highways & streets construction fell 2.9% (-8.3% y/y), off 12.3% from its January peak. Education building improved 0.4% (-0.8% y/y), and office construction ticked 0.1% higher (-3.7% y/y).
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Aug | Jul | Jun | Aug Y/Y | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.7 | -0.3 | 0.9 | -0.3 | 10.3 | 11.4 | 6.3 |
| Private | -0.3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 12.5 | 15.4 | 10.9 |
| Residential | -0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 16.8 | 14.6 | 20.1 |
| Nonresidential | -0.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 4.2 | 8.1 | 16.3 | 2.7 |
| Public | -2.0 | -3.5 | 1.0 | -8.8 | 4.5 | 1.9 | -3.1 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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