U.S. construction spending remains unchanged in September

Construction spending in the U.S. came in flat in the month of September. Today’s report was consistent with consensus expectations. The upward revision to the August print countered some of the softness of the September report. August’s data was upwardly revised to a rise of 0.8 from 0.1 percent.

Most of the deceleration seen in September was mainly because of public construction spending, which dropped 0.9 percent, reversing some of the 2.2 percent rise recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, private construction spending rose 0.3 percent, driven by a 0.6 percent rise in the residential component, noted Barclays in a research report.

Looking into details, within the private residential sector, declines were seen throughout all the three categories: multi-family units rose strongly at 8.7 percent, countering a fall in single-family units, while home improvements were widely flat. On the public side, construction spending dropped 7 percent in the residential sector and 0.8 percent in non-residential.

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