September New Construction Spending Takes Unexpected Turn Lower
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday morning that construction spending in September decreased from August.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday morning that construction spending in September decreased by 0.4% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $950.9 billion from the revised estimate of $955.2 billion in August. Compared with September 2013, spending is up 2.9%.
For the first nine months of 2014, new construction spending was up 6.1% at an estimated total of $710.1 billion, compared with the nine-month total of $669.3 billion in 2013.
The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.6% in construction spending for September.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction rose 0.4% to $349.1 billion, compared with the revised August total of $347.7 billion. Private nonresidential construction slipped 1% month-over-month, and total private construction spending fell 0.1% to $680.0 billion from a revised August total of $680.8 billion.
In the private sector, single family residential construction was 9.8% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction was up 25.7% from September 2013. Private, nonresidential construction was up 4.2% year-over-year and down 1% from August.
In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending was up 1.7%, compared with September 2013, and down 1.3% compared with August 2014. Spending on educational facilities rose 0.1% month-over-month and 8.4% from September 2013 spending. Public residential construction rose 4.7% month-over-month and 1.3% compared with September 2013.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
