Updated: 02-Dec-22 07:42 ET
| October Construction Spending |
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| Updated: 02-Dec-22 07:42 ET |
Highlights
- Total construction spending decreased 0.3% month-over-month in October (Briefing.com consensus -0.2%) following a downwardly revised 0.1% increase (from 0.2%) in September.
- Total private construction declined 0.5% month-over-month while total public construction spending increased 0.6%.
- On a year-over-year basis, total construction spending was up 9.2%.
Key Factors
- Total residential spending was down 0.3% month-over-month and was up 8.5% year-over-year. Total nonresidential spending also dropped 0.3% month-over-month and was up 9.8% year-over-year.
- The decline in private construction spending was paced by a 0.8% decline in nonresidential spending, which was led by a 3.2% decline in manufacturing spending and a 0.4% drop in commercial spending. Residential private spending was down 0.3%, pressured by a 2.6% decline in new single-family construction.
- The increase in public construction was driven by a 0.6% increase in nonresidential spending, which was led by a 0.5% increase in educational spending and a 22.8% surge in power spending. Public residential construction spending decreased 0.9%.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that private construction spending was weak on the residential and nonresidential side of things, presumably due to rising interest rates that are making construction projects more expensive to finance at a time when broader economic activity is slowing due in part to the rising interest rates.
| Category | OCT | SEP | AUG | JUL | JUN |
| Nominal (Current) Dollars | |||||
| Total Construction | -0.3% | 0.1% | -1.1% | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| Private | -0.5% | 0.0% | -1.8% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Residential | -0.3% | -0.6% | -3.4% | -1.1% | -0.8% |
| Nonresidential | -0.8% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Public | 0.6% | 0.8% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 1.2% |
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