Global| Aug 03 2020U.S. Construction Weakens Again in June
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
• Construction spending scaled back for the fourth straight month. • Residential building leads the way lower. Construction activity remains weak. The value of construction put-in-place eased 0.7% (+0.1 y/y) during June following a [...]
• Construction spending scaled back for the fourth straight month.
• Residential building leads the way lower.
Construction activity remains weak. The value of construction put-in-place eased 0.7% (+0.1 y/y) during June following a 1.7% May decline, revised from -2.1%. A 1.0% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private construction weakened 0.7% in June (-1.9% y/y) after falling sharply for three straight months. Private residential construction fell 1.5% (-0.8% y/y), down for the fourth consecutive month. Single-family building weakened 3.6% (-7.6% y/y) after falling by 7.7% in each of the prior two months. Spending on improvements dropped 0.4% (+10.0% y/y) after edging 0.7% higher in May. To the upside, multi-family construction activity increased 3.0% (-2.1% y/y), up for the fifth month this year.
Nonresidential private construction edged 0.2% higher (-3.2% y/y). Commercial building fell 1.3% (+2.0% y/y) while office construction improved 0.3% (-3.5% y/y). Manufacturing building strengthened 1.7% (-9.1% y/y) while health care rose 1.7% (0.6% y/y). Amusement facility building remained under pressure and fell 6.2% (-14.7% y/y).
Public construction weakened 0.7% (6.2% y/y). Within the two of the largest sectors, road construction weakened 1.7% (+3.7% y/y) and school building fell 2.7% (+5.5% y/y). Office construction eased 0.3% (+6.8% y/y).
The construction spending figures, some of which date back to 1946 can be found in Haver's USECON database. Mortgage interest rates and loan applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association are in the SURVEYW database and the expectations reading is in the AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (SA, %) | Jun | May | Apr | Jun Y/Y | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.7 | -1.7 | -3.4 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 4.7 |
| Private | -0.7 | -2.7 | -3.7 | -1.9 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 6.3 |
| Residential | -1.5 | -3.6 | -4.4 | -0.8 | -2.5 | 3.5 | 12.5 |
| Nonresidential | 0.2 | -1.5 | -2.9 | -3.2 | 4.4 | 4.7 | -0.4 |
| Public | -0.7 | 1.3 | -2.5 | 6.2 | 8.0 | 4.4 | -0.2 |
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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