Global| May 01 2014U.S. Construction Spending Hurt More in Bad Winter; Modest Comeback in March
Summary
The value of construction put-in-place rose 0.2% in March (8.4% y/y). The severe winter weather was reflected in downward revisions to February and January, which both now show declines. January was changed from -0.2% to -0.4% and [...]
The value of construction put-in-place rose 0.2% in March (8.4% y/y). The severe winter weather was reflected in downward revisions to February and January, which both now show declines. January was changed from -0.2% to -0.4% and February from +0.1% to -0.2%. Consequently the three-month change is now -1.8% at an annual rate. The March figure also fell short of expectations in the Action Economics Consensus Survey, which looked for a recovery to a 0.7% monthly gain.
Private sector construction outlays did firm somewhat in March, increasing 0.5% (12.5% y/y), after a 0.2% decrease in February, which was revised from a 0.1% rise reported last month. Residential building now actually looks somewhat better, with an 0.8% gain in March (16.0% y/y) and an upward revision for February to no change from a drop of 0.8% reported before. Single-family homebuilding increased 0.2% in March (13.2% y/y) and was revised from a drop of 0.8% in February to -0.3%. Multi-family building rose 4.4% in March (32.5% y/y), and spending on improvements was up 0.6% (15.8% y/y). Nonresidential construction spending edged up 0.2% in March (8.6% y/y) after a marked downward revision in February to -0.5% from the +1.2% initially estimated; January was also lowered from a decline of 1.0% to -2.6%.
The value of public sector building activity continued a decline in March, down 0.6%, with the year-on-year move down 0.8%. February was revised from +0.1% to -0.1% and January from -1.3% to -1.6%.
The construction spending figures are in Haver's USECON database and the expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
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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