Construction Spending Up 0.7% - Residential, Public Spending Rise

In October, new construction spending rose 0.7%. This was the second monthly increase following significant declines in the prior two months. The month’s increase was primarily driven by a 2.5% increase in residential spending. Housing construction fell off heavily in the wake of the homebuyer tax credit expiring. The past two months, spending has recovered somewhat from that low. From a year prior, residential spending was down 9.2% from a year prior, while total construction spending was down 9.3%.

Private non-residential spending fell 0.7% after two months of modest increases. From a year prior, spending was down 20.7%. Public sector spending rose 0.4% over the month and was up 2.2% from a year earlier.

50 = expansion	Nov	Oct	Sep	Aug	Jul	Jun
Activity Index	56.6	56.9	54.4	56.3	55.5	56.2
Production	55.0	62.7	56.5	59.9	57.0	61.4
Employment	57.5	57.7	56.5	60.4	58.6	57.8
New Orders	56.6	58.9	51.1	53.1	53.5	58.5
Export Orders	57.0	60.5	54.5	55.5	56.5	56.0
Backlogged Orders	46.0	46.0	46.5	51.5	54.5	57.0
Inventories	56.7	53.9	55.6	51.4	50.2	45.8