Global| Feb 01 2018U.S. Construction Spending Increases
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place increased 0.7% (1.6% y/y) during December following a 0.6% November gain, initially reported as 0.8%. A 0.5% gain in activity had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all [...]
The value of construction put-in-place increased 0.7% (1.6% y/y) during December following a 0.6% November gain, initially reported as 0.8%. A 0.5% gain in activity had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. During all of last year, construction increased 3.8%, the smallest increase of the economic expansion.
Private sector building activity rose 0.8% (0.9% y/y) as residential building activity improved 0.5% (5.4% y/y). Single-family building activity rose 0.4% (9.2% y/y) but multi-family construction jumped 2.6% (3.2% y/y). The value of improvements edged 0.2% lower (0.7% y/y). Nonresidential building activity increased 1.1% (-3.4% y/y). Educational building jumped 4.1% (1.2% y/y) while transportation construction was little changed (32.1% y/y). Office building strengthened 4.2% (-5.2% y/y), and commercial construction gained 1.6% (5.4% y/y). Power facility construction fell 0.5% (-11.5% y/y) and factory construction eased 0.5% (+3.2% y/y).
The value of public sector building activity nudged 0.3% higher (4.3% y/y). Office building fell 1.5% (+14.2% y/y). Educational building increased 1 .6% (9.4% y/y) and highway & street construction improved 0.3%, unchanged y/y. Conservation & development facility construction rose 1.8% (+3.7% y/y), while power plant construction declined 10.3% (+12.7% y/y).
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations reading is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Dec | Nov | Oct | Dec Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 3.8 | 6.5 | 10.7 |
| Private | 0.8 | 0.7 | -0.6 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 9.2 | 12.9 |
| Residential | 0.5 | 1.1 | -1.0 | 5.4 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 14.2 |
| Nonresidential | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | -3.4 | 0.6 | 7.7 | 11.5 |
| Public | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 4.3 | -2.5 | -1.2 | 5.1 |
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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