Global| Jan 02 2015U.S. Construction Spending Eases in November
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place decreased 0.3% (2.4% y/y) during November after a 1.2% advance in October, revised from 1.1%; the September move was revised more noticeably, to a 0.6% increase from a 0.1% decline. The November [...]
The value of construction put-in-place decreased 0.3% (2.4% y/y) during November after a 1.2% advance in October, revised from 1.1%; the September move was revised more noticeably, to a 0.6% increase from a 0.1% decline. The November decline contrasted with expectations for a 0.3% increase in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Private sector construction outlays increased 0.3% in November (2.0% y/y), after October's 0.5% rise. Residential building activity advanced 0.9%, the same as October's revised gain, originally shown as 1.3%. New single-family building grew 1.0% (12.5% y/y), and multi-family building increased 0.8% (27.2% y/y). Spending on improvements rose 0.7% in November (-24.6% y/y). Nonresidential building activity was down 0.3% (+4.7% y/y), after October's 0.1% rise, revised from a 0.1% decrease. There were gains in power facility construction, 2.4% (-3.7% y/y), transportation facilities, 1.8% (+6.5% y/y) and communications infrastructure, 0.9% (-17.7% y/y). Education and manufacturing were largely unchanged at +0.1% (6.5% y/y for education and 21.1% y/y for factory building). There were declines in health care buildings, 4.1% (-7.8% y/y), amusement and recreation projects, also 4.1% (+0.4% y/y), office buildings, 2.1% (17.5% y/y) and commercial construction, 1.8% (+8.9% y/y).
Building in the public sector retreated anew in November, by 1.7% (+3.2% y/y), after October's positive 2.8%, revised from 2.3% reported initially. The public nonresidential segment saw, among major categories, declines in education, 2.5% (+2.3% y/y), water facilities, 1.7% (-1.6% y/y) and transportation facilities, 1.1% (+4.9% y/y). There were gains, though, in sewer and waste disposal, 2.7% (+14.1% y/y) and highways and streets, 0.3% (5.5% y/y).
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
| Construction Put in Place (%) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Y/Y | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | -0.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 5.7 | 9.2 | -2.1 |
| Private | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 10.1 | 16.0 | -0.1 |
| Residential | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.1 | -0.5 | 20.4 | 14.4 | 1.9 |
| Nonresidential | -0.3 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 17.5 | -1.8 |
| Public | -1.7 | 2.8 | -0.9 | 3.2 | -3.5 | -2.8 | -5.4 |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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