Updated: 01-Jun-18 10:45 ET
| April Construction Spending |
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| Updated: 01-Jun-18 10:45 ET |
Highlights
- Total construction spending increased 1.8% in April (Briefing.com consensus +1.0%) following an unrevised 1.7% decline in March.
Key Factors
- The April report featured a 2.8% increase in total private construction spending. Total public construction spending was down 1.3%.
- Public construction spending was held down by a 1.4% decline in nonresidential spending, which featured a 1.0% decline in highway and street spending.
- Private construction spending growth was driven by a 4.5% increase in residential spending, which was led by multi-family building. Nonresidential spending was up 0.8%, as a 2.4% increase in power spending was offset in part by a 2.8% decline in commercial spending.
- On a year-over-year basis, total construction spending was up 7.6%, with public construction spending up 7.7% and private construction spending up 7.6%.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that it showed a welcome pickup in construction spending growth, which will be a source of support for Q2 GDP forecasts.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
| Nominal (Current) Dollars | |||||
| Total Construction | 1.8% | -1.7% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Private | 2.8% | -2.6% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 2.0% |
| Residential | 4.5% | -4.1% | 1.0% | 3.2% | 1.6% |
| Nonresidential | 0.8% | -0.6% | 2.2% | -0.5% | 2.6% |
| Public | -1.3% | 1.2% | -0.1% | 2.2% | 0.4% |
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