Global| Dec 02 2013U.S. Construction Spending Recovers Its Earlier Decline
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place gained 0.8% in October (5.3% y/y) following a 0.3% September slip. A 0.4% rise in building activity had been expected. The September figures, released for the first time, were contained in this [...]
The value of construction put-in-place gained 0.8% in October (5.3% y/y) following a 0.3% September slip. A 0.4% rise in building activity had been expected. The September figures, released for the first time, were contained in this release due to the federal government shutdown.
A 3.9% jump (2.3% y/y) in the value of public sector building activity led the increase in construction activity during October. Improvement here has persisted since the spring. The October rise reflected an 8.8% gain (-14.1% y/y) in office building as well as an 8.5% lift (-3.7% y/y) in education. Power construction also jumped 8.0% (10.8% y/y) but spending on highways & streets inched up just 0.6% (9.2% y/y). Spending here accounts for 29% of total public sector construction activity.
Private sector construction activity slipped 0.5% (+6.6% y/y) in October and it's been moving sideways since May. Residential building was off 0.6% m/m but remained up 17.8% y/y. Spending on improvements fell 1.2% (+13.2% y/y) and has been down sharply during three of the last four months. Single-family home building activity slipped 0.6% (+17.8% y/y) to the lowest level in three months but multi-family building activity jumped 2.2%, up by more than one-third y/y. Nonresidential building activity slipped 0.5% (-3.4% y/y). It's loss of forward momentum has been broad-based but most notable in power (-18.8% y/y) and communication (-16.5% y/y) construction activity.
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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