September 3, 2024
Construction spending (the green bars above) declined 0.3% in July after having been unchanged in June. Construction spending climbed sharply in the first four months of this year, but it has slowed considerably beginning in May. In the past 12 months it has risen 6.7%. But in the past three months it has been essentially unchanged.
Private construction spending (excluding the government sector) fell 0.4% in July after having risen 0.3% in June. In the past year private construction has risen 6.3%. In the past three months it has risen at 0.1% pace.
Within the private construction spending category, residential spending .fell 0.4% in July after climbing 0.4% in June. Residential spending had been gradually rising for almost a year.. In the past 12 months residential construction spending has risen 7.7%. It has risen at a 1.7% pace in the past three months. Hopefully, the recent decline in mortgage rates should provide a lift to this sector in the months ahead.
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Nonresidential construction fell 0.4% in July after having been unchanged in June. It had been climbing rapidly but has flattened out in the past three months, In the past 12 months nonresidential construction has risen 4.5%. In the past three months it has fallen 0.9%.
Public sector construction rose 0.1% in July after having declined 0.7% in June. In the past year such spending has risen 8.1%. The increase in this category in the past year has been led by construction of offices, commercial space, health care, educational, amusement and recreation, power, highway and street, sewage and waste disposal, water supply, and conservation and development. But in the past three months that rate of increase has declined at a 4.4% pace.
.Stephen Slifer
NumberNomics
Charleston, SC
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