Global| May 02 2011U.S. Construction Spending Recovers
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction spending rebounded 1.4% during March following a deepened 2.4% February decline. Consensus expectations as indicated by Actions Economics called for a 0.4% monthly gain. The rise in construction last month [...]
The value of construction spending rebounded 1.4% during March
following a deepened 2.4% February decline. Consensus expectations as
indicated by Actions Economics called for a 0.4% monthly gain.
The rise in construction last month was led by a 2.2% gain in private sector building. That increase reflected a 2.6% recovery in residential building after the weather-induced 6.8% February plunge. Volatility in improvements has been most extreme. It rose 6.9% (-6.3% y/y) following the 12.9% February shortfall. Single-family construction fell another 1.0% (-4.4% y/y) while multi-family building was off 2.2% (-13.2% y/y).
Nonresidential construction activity was relatively firm in March. However, a 1.8% gain still left the quarterly average down 6.9% from Q4 of last year. The March rise was led by a 3.1% gain in education (-17.8% y/y), a 2.7% rise in commercial food & beverages (-3.3% y/y) and a 2.2% increase in health care building (-7.7% y/y).
Public construction activity ticked up just 0.1%, following a revised 1.4% decrease in February. The March uptick reflected a 3.0% increase in health care (12.2% y/y), a 2.1% increase in office building (-10.9% y/y) as well as a 0.6% uptick in highways and streets (4.9% y/y). These gains were offset by declines in sewerage & waste disposal (-7.9% y/y) and water supply (-0.9% y/y).
The construction put-in-place figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in Haver's AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (%) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1.4 | -2.4 | -1.0 | -6.7 | -10.4 | -14.9 | -7.5 |
| Private | 2.2 | -2.9 | -1.4 | -9.2 | -14.3 | -21.9 | -12.2 |
| Residential | 2.6 | -6.8 | 4.6 | -8.1 | -1.4 | -29.9 | -29.0 |
| Nonresidential | 1.8 | 1.0 | -6.8 | -10.2 | -23.4 | -15.0 | 10.5 |
| Public | 0.1 | -1.4 | -0.3 | -2.3 | -3.1 | 2.2 | 6.6 |
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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