US February construction spending -0.3% versus 0.7% expected

• Prior month -0.2%
• Construction spending for February -0.3% versus 0.7% expected. Biggest drop since October 2022
• total construction spending came in at $2091.5 billion versus $2096.9 billion in January
• YoY construction spending 10.7%
• For the first two months of the year, +11.9% versus the same 2-month period in 2023

Looking at private and public construction

• Private Construction was mixed with residential construction increasing and nonresidential construction decreasing:

  • Total spending was approximately $1,617.1 billion, virtually unchanged from January’s $1,616.8 billion.
  • Residential construction spending increased by 0.7%, reaching $901.1 billion.
  • Nonresidential construction spending decreased by 0.9%, totaling $716.0 billion.

• Public Construction was weaker:

  • Total spending was $474.4 billion, down by 1.2% from January’s $480.1 billion.
  • Educational construction spending fell by 1.8% to $100.5 billion.
  • Highway construction spending decreased by 1.6%, amounting to $147.3 billion

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.