Global| Jul 01 2016U.S. Construction Activity Declines Again
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.8% (+2.8% y/y) during May following a 2.0% April drop, revised from -1.8%. A 0.7% increase was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Data back to 2014 were revised. [...]
The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.8% (+2.8% y/y) during May following a 2.0% April drop, revised from -1.8%. A 0.7% increase was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Data back to 2014 were revised.
Building activity in the private sector eased 0.3% (+4.7% y/y), led by a 0.7% drop (+3.9% y/y) in nonresidential construction after a 0.1% shortfall. Educational building declined 4.5% (+2.9% y/y) and commercial construction fell 1.6% (+3.2% y/y). Increasing was amusement & recreation building by 3.2% (20.1% y/y) and transportation construction by 1.7% (2.4% y/y).
The value of residential building activity was unchanged (+5.4% y/y) after a 3.5% drop. Single-family construction declined 1.3% (+6.3% y/y), down for the fifth month in the last six. Multi-family construction activity rose 1.8% (23.9% y/y) following a 2.0% decline, and the value of improvements rose 1.4% (-1.9% y/y) after a 6.8% shortfall.
The value of public sector building activity declined 2.3% (-2.6% y/y), down for the third straight month. Transportation building activity declined 4.6% (-6.5% y/y) and highways & streets construction eased 0.2% (-1.1% y/y). Increasing was the value of office construction by 4.2% (-11.3% 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, %) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.8 | -2.0 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 10.3 | 11.4 | 6.3 |
| Private | -0.3 | -1.9 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 12.5 | 15.4 | 10.9 |
| Residential | 0.0 | -3.5 | 2.8 | 5.4 | 16.8 | 14.6 | 20.1 |
| Nonresidential | -0.7 | -0.1 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 8.1 | 16.3 | 2.7 |
| Public | -2.3 | -2.3 | -0.7 | -2.6 | 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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