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.