Global| Apr 02 2012U.S. Construction Spending Falls Again Despite The Mild Winter
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Warm temperatures didn't seem to give much of a lift to construction spending. During February, outlays fell 1.1% (+5.8% y/y) following a downwardly revised 0.8% January drop. The decline disappointed Consensus expectations for a 0.7% [...]
Warm temperatures didn't seem to give much of a lift to construction
spending. During February, outlays fell 1.1% (+5.8% y/y) following a
downwardly revised 0.8% January drop. The decline disappointed Consensus
expectations for a 0.7% February increase. Despite these shortfalls,
however, spending activity is reversing its earlier declines.
Private sector spending fell 0.8% (+10.2% y/y) after a downwardly revised 1.3% January decline. Residential building was unchanged (5.6% y/y) as single-family construction fell 1.5% (+4.2% y/y) but multi-family building rose 2.0% (25.7% y/y). The value of spending on improvements increased 1.2% (4.5% y/y). Adding to the private sector's decline was a 1.7% shortfall (-1.4% y/y) in public sector building activity. The decline reflected a 2.6% drop (+0.4% y/y) in highway & street construction and a 1.8% decline (-9.1% y/y) in transportation. Offsetting these declines was a 1.7% rise (11.1% y/y) in power facility building activity.
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
The Foreclosure Crisis in 2008: Predatory Lending or Household Overreaching? from the Feral Reserve Bank of St. Louis is available here.
| Construction Put in Place (%) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Y/Y | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -1.1 | -0.8 | 1.1 | 5.8 | -1.7 | -11.3 | -15.3 |
| Private | -0.8 | -1.3 | 1.8 | 10.2 | 0.9 | -15.2 | -22.4 |
| Residential | 0.0 | -0.1 | 0.4 | 5.6 | -0.8 | -2.9 | -29.9 |
| Nonresidential | -1.6 | -2.3 | 3.0 | 14.5 | 2.6 | -24.0 | -16.0 |
| Public | -1.7 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -1.4 | -6.1 | -3.9 | 2.1 |
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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