Economy

AGC: Construction spending up for fifth consecutive month in November
Written by Becca Moczygemba
January 3, 2024
An increase in residential construction brought total construction spending up by 0.4% in November, according to a report from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The uptick offsets a slowdown in public spending.
Construction spending totaled $2.050 trillion in November, a 0.4% increase over October.
“Private construction spending is showing renewed vigor in homebuilding and selected private nonresidential categories, while developer-financed spending languishes,” AGC’s chief economist Ken Simonson said in a statement on Jan. 2.
Private residential construction increased by 1.1% while multifamily builds inched up 0.1%.
Spending on private nonresidential construction increased for the fifth consecutive month by 0.2%, AGC said. However, the largest segment was manufacturing construction, which rose by 0.5%. Overall commercial construction fell by 0.5%.
Decreased funding for public construction on education, transportation, and other infrastructure categories led to a 2.2% drop in November, according to AGC. But highway and road construction increased by 0.1%.
The AGC is set to release its 2024 outlook on Thursday, Jan. 4.

Becca Moczygemba
Read more from Becca MoczygembaLatest in Economy

CRU: Will US tariff policy be transactional or transformational?
The Trump 1.0 tariffs appeared to have little positive effect on the US manufacturing, partly because they hurt export competitiveness.

Beige Book finds mixed demand trends, tariff concerns
Manufacturing activity exhibited slight to modest increases across a majority of districts. However, manufacturers expressed concerns over the potential impact of looming trade policy changes between late January and February.

Construction spending drops marginally in January
Construction spending edged down slightly in January, slipping for the first time in four months. The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,196 billion in January, down 0.2% from December’s downward revised rate. The January figure is 3.3% higher than a year ago. January’s result, despite the slight erosion, […]

ISM: Manufacturing expansion slowed in February
The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.

Chicago Business Barometer up but still pointing to weak conditions
The Chicago Business Barometer rose to an eight-month high in February. Despite the recovery, the measure continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions, as it has for over a year.