Global| Jul 01 2005U.S. Construction Spending Fell After Strengthened Gain Last Year
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The total value of construction put in place fell in May for the fourth month this year. The 0.9% decline followed a revised 1.1% drop in April. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.5% increase. The 2004 increase in total [...]
The total value of construction put in place fell in May for the fourth month this year. The 0.9% decline followed a revised 1.1% drop in April. Consensus expectations had been for a 0.5% increase.
The 2004 increase in total construction spending was revised up to 11.1% from 8.9% as a result of a strengthened gain in residential building to 18.5% from 13.9%.
Since then private residential building activity has fallen sharply, down 4.9% during the last three months. The value of new single family building, however, has continued to rise by 0.5% (7.6% y/y) in May. Building on new multi-family units fell 0.9% (15.0% y/y).
Nonresidential building slipped 1.6% (+5.0% y/y) due to a 1.2% (+2.4% y/y) decline in office building.
Public construction spending rose 1.7% but the steam came out of spending on highways & streets, nearly one third of the value of public construction spending, as y/y growth slowed to 5.4% from the high of 19.7% in February.
These more detailed categories represent the Census Bureau’s reclassification of construction activity into end-use groups. Finer detail is available for many of the categories; for instance, commercial construction is shown for Automotive sales and parking facilities, drugstores, building supply stores, and both commercial warehouses and mini-storage facilities. Note that start dates vary for some seasonally adjusted line items in 2000 and 2002 and that constant-dollar data are no longer computed.
| Construction Put-in-place | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.9% | -1.1% | 8.2% | 11.1% | 5.4% | 1.0% |
| Private | -1.6% | -1.5% | 7.0% | 13.8% | 6.3% | -0.4% |
| Residential | -1.7% | -2.2% | 7.8% | 18.5% | 12.9% | 8.5% |
| Nonresidential | -1.6% | 0.6% | 5.0% | 3.9% | -5.4% | -13.0% |
| Public | 1.7% | 0.2% | 7.1% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 5.7% |
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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