Haver Analytics
Haver Analytics
Global| Jul 01 2019

U.S. Construction Spending Declines; Public Sector Building Trends Higher

Summary

The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.8% (-1.5% y/y) during May following a 0.4% April gain, revised from unchanged. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Construction in the private sector [...]


The value of construction put-in-place declined 0.8% (-1.5% y/y) during May following a 0.4% April gain, revised from unchanged. A 0.2% rise had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.

Construction in the private sector fell 0.7% (-5.4% y/y), down for the third straight month. Residential construction declined 0.6% (-9.6% y/y), continuing a slide that began the last year. The value of home improvements declined 1.2% (-17.3% y/y) after falling sharply in all but one month this year. Single-family building eased 0.8% (-7.5% y/y) and has been trending lower since early last year. Offsetting these declines was a 1.9% rise (9.2% y/y) in multi-family construction, the value of which hit a record high.

Private nonresidential building activity declined 0.9% (-0.1% y/y) during May after a 1.4% fall. Office construction was off 1.0% (+7.3% y/y) while multi-retail building declined 2.2% (-36.5% y/y). Health care construction eased 0.2% (+5.3% y/y) but transportation sector building rose 4.3% (19.8% y/y).

Public sector building activity declined 0.9% during September (+11.4% y/y) following a 4.5% jump. It has surged this year, up 14.5% since December. Construction of highways & streets has risen by one-quarter since December as rebuilding the nation's infrastructure gets some needed attention. It accounts for roughly one-third of the dollar value of public building activity. Transportation sector building also has been strong, up 12.3% year-to-date. Commercial construction has risen 10.6% so far this year and health care building is up 8.7% since December.

The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946, are in Haver's USECON database. The expectations reading can be found in the AS1REPNA database.

Construction Put in Place (SA, %) May Apr Mar May Y/Y 2018 2017 2016
Total -0.8 0.4 0.1 -1.5 3.9 4.5 7.0
  Private -0.7 -1.0 -0.1 -5.4 3.1 7.1 9.2
    Residential -0.6 -0.6 -0.8 -9.6 2.8 12.4 10.7
    Nonresidential -0.9 -1.4 0.6 -0.1 3.4 1.3 7.7
  Public -0.9 4.5 0.6 11.4 6.4 -3.2 0.7
  • 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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