Global| Jan 02 2013U.S. Construction Spending Is Depressed by Hurricane Sandy
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Construction activity suffered in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The value of construction put-in-place fell 0.3% during November after a downwardly revised 0.7% October increase. The decline compared to consensus expectations for a [...]
Construction activity suffered in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The value of construction put-in-place fell 0.3% during November after a downwardly revised 0.7% October increase. The decline compared to consensus expectations for a 0.7% rise. A lower level of private nonresidential construction led the drop with a 0.7% (+8.2% y/y) fall. Less spending on lodging led that decline with a 1.3% drop (+25.9% y/y). Office building fell 0.9% but still increased 16.5% y/y. Spending on health care facilities fell 0.3% (-3.7% y/y). Offsetting these declines was a 0.4% rise (19.0% y/y) in residential spending. That was led by a 1.3% jump (29.4% y/y) in new single-family home building. Multi-family building rose 0.5% and nearly doubled y/y, but spending on improvements fell 0.7% (+5.8% y/y).
In the public sector, building activity fell 0.4% m/m (-2.6% y/y). Office construction declined 5.7% and was off by nearly one quarter y/y. Public safety spending fell 2.6% (-6.2% y/y). To the upside, spending on highways & streets, which is 29% of total public construction spending, rose 0.5% (-6.0% y/y). Transportation spending, which is 10% of total public, gained 0.4% (25.6% 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 (%) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Y/Y | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 7.7 | -3.1 | -11.2 | -15.3 |
| Private | -0.2 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 13.3 | -1.1 | -15.2 | -22.4 |
| Residential | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 19.0 | -1.0 | -2.9 | -29.9 |
| Nonresidential | -0.7 | -0.2 | 0.5 | 8.2 | -1.3 | -24.0 | -16.0 |
| Public | -0.4 | 1.0 | -1.2 | -2.6 | -6.4 | -3.6 | 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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