Updated: 02-Apr-18 10:44 ET
| February Construction Spending |
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| Updated: 02-Apr-18 10:44 ET |
Highlights
- Total construction spending was up a scant 0.1% in February (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) following an unchanged level for January.
Key Factors
- The February report featured a 0.7% increase in total private construction spending and a 2.1% decline in total public construction spending.
- Public construction spending was down in all sectors, with the exception of water supply (+1.3%). A 0.2% decline in highway and street spending and a 0.5% decline in educational spending were the biggest drags.
- Private construction spending was led by a 1.5% jump in nonresidential spending. The biggest growth drivers there were power (+0.9%), commercial (+1.2%), manufacturing (+1.2%), and office (+6.5%) spending. Residential spending increased 0.1%.
- On a year-over-year basis, total construction spending was up 3.0%, with public construction spending up 1.6% and private construction spending up 3.4%.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that construction spending growth continues to run at a relatively slow pace, which is an inhibitor of stronger overall growth.
| Category | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT |
| Nominal (Current) Dollars | |||||
| Total Construction | 0.1% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 0.1% |
| Private | 0.7% | -0.7% | 2.0% | 1.5% | -0.6% |
| Residential | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1.6% | 1.2% | -1.0% |
| Nonresidential | 1.5% | -1.7% | 2.6% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
| Public | -2.1% | 2.3% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 2.4% |
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