Global| Jul 02 2013U.S. Construction Spending Moves Up Slightly
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.5% (5.4% y/y) during May after a revised 0.1% April up tick. A 0.6% rise in activity had been expected. The value of public sector building gained 1.8% (-4.7% y/y) but activity was [...]
The value of construction put-in-place improved 0.5% (5.4% y/y) during May after a revised 0.1% April up tick. A 0.6% rise in activity had been expected. The value of public sector building gained 1.8% (-4.7% y/y) but activity was down 16.5% from 2009 high. The monthly increase reflected a 6.2% jump (9.9% y/y) in water supply as well as a 2.9% rise (2.7% y/y) in sewerage & waste disposal. The value of spending on highways & streets nudged up 0.8% (-7.3% y/y).
Private sector building activity was little-changed (10.6% y/y) in May, reflecting a 1.2% rise (23.1% y/y) in residential building activity. That was due to a 2.5% gain (51.7% y/y) in multi-family construction and a 1.9% increase (7.1% y/y) in spending on improvements. Single-family building activity rose 0.4% (33.2% y/y). Nonresidential building activity declined 1.4% (-0.9% y/y), pulled lower by a 6.3% drop (-13.7% y/y) in communication while office construction fell 1.9% (+4.8% y/y). Amusements & recreation building was off 1.8% (-11.5% y/y) while educational spending nudged up 0.6% (-8.5% y/y).
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
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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