November New Construction Spending Unexpectedly Drops
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday morning that construction spending in November decreased, rather than the increase expected.
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The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday morning that construction spending in November decreased by 0.3% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $975 billion from the revised estimate of $977.7 billion in October. Compared with November 2013, spending was up 2.4%.
For the first 11 months of 2014, new construction spending was up 5.7% at an estimated total of $884.6 billion, compared with the 11-month total of $836.9 billion in 2013.
The consensus estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had called for a rise of 0.5% in construction spending for November.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction rose 0.9% to $352.7 billion, compared with the revised October total of $349.6 billion. Private nonresidential construction slipped 0.3% month-over-month and total private construction spending rose 0.3% to $697.7 billion, compared with a revised October total of $695.7 billion.
In the private sector, single-family residential construction was 12.5% higher than it was a year ago and multifamily construction was up 27.2% from November 2013. Private, nonresidential construction was up 4.7% year-over-year and down 0.3% from October.
In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending was up 3.2%, compared with October 2013, and down 1.7% compared with October 2014. Spending on educational facilities fell 2.5% month-over-month, but it was up 2.3% from October 2013 spending. Public residential construction rose 3.5% month-over-month and slipped 5.4% compared with October 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.
