HORIZONTV FEATURING BD+C: WATCH EPISODES ON DEMAND AT HORIZONTV

𝕏

Currently Reading

Nonresidential construction spending falters in November

Market Data

Nonresidential construction spending falters in November

Only 4 of 16 subsectors showed gains

By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | January 5, 2016

The latter months of 2015 showed signs that construction spending's momentum had leveled off. Courtesy of Pixabay

Continue Reading

Spending for nonresidential construction, which had been on the uptick for most of 2015, stumbled in the latter months.

The Census Bureau revised downward its spending estimates for September and October, and reported that spending in November stood at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of $688.1 billion, down 0.8% from the lower October figure.

Even though it was still up from November 2014's annualized rate of around $625 billion, November 2015 was the industry's worst-performing month since April 2015.

Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), called Census's latest data “ominous,” because it showed that spending momentum “has softened considerably in recent months.” He added that ABC's surveys of construction executives paint a more dire picture of the industry's state.

“The most recent data suggest that while 2016 may be a year of nonresidential construction spending growth, it may not provide the degree of momentum that characterized much of 2015,” Basu said. He pointed specifically to construction related to the manufacturing sector, which in November was off 28.8% from November 2014. He believes this downturn reflects falling exports and stiffer competition from foreign producers.

ABC's analysis of Census's data found that only four of 16 construction subsectors showed positive gains in November: Communication, which was up 4.4% over October and 27.8% over November 2014; Education (up 3.9% and 13.8%), Office (1.6% and 20.5%), and Transportation (0.2% and 3.1%).

Conversely, spending for Public Safety projects fell 8.1% on a monthly basis, and 5.2% year over year. Even Healthcare, which had been the industry's shining light recently (it was up 5% from November 2014), slipped by 0.1% from October 2015.

Tags

Related Stories

Market Data | Nov 3, 2017

New construction starts in 2018 to increase 3% to $765 billion: Dodge report

Dodge Outlook Report predicts deceleration but still growth, reflecting a mixed pattern by project type.

Market Data | Nov 2, 2017

Construction spending up in September; Down on a YOY basis

Nonresidential construction spending is down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Cranes on a construction site

Market Data | Oct 19, 2017

Architecture Billings Index backslides slightly

Business conditions easing in the West.

Industry Research | Oct 3, 2017

Nonresidential construction spending stabilizes in August

Spending on nonresidential construction services is still down on a YOY basis.

Prefab construction of a house

Market Data | Sep 21, 2017

Architecture Billings Index continues growth streak

Design services remain in high demand across all regions and in all major sectors.

Red hot air balloons

Market Data | Sep 21, 2017

How brand research delivers competitive advantage

Brand research is a process that firms can use to measure their reputation and visibility in the marketplace.

A contractor working on a project

Contractors | Sep 19, 2017

Commercial Construction Index finds high optimism in U.S. commercial construction industry

Hurricane recovery efforts expected to heighten concerns about labor scarcities in the south, where two-thirds of contractors already face worker shortages.

The Houston skyline

Multifamily Housing | Sep 15, 2017

Hurricane Harvey damaged fewer apartments in greater Houston than estimated

As of Sept. 14, 166 properties reported damage to 8,956 units, about 1.4% of the total supply of apartments, according to ApartmentData.com.

Rooms lining a hotel hallway

Hotel Facilities | Sep 6, 2017

Marriott has the largest construction pipeline of any franchise company in the U.S.

Marriott has the most rooms currently under construction with 482 Projects/67,434 Rooms.

ABC Total Nonresidential Construction Spending chart

Market Data | Sep 5, 2017

Nonresidential construction declines again, public and private sector down in July

Weakness in spending was widespread.

Top Articles

Retail Centers

Outside Las Vegas, two unused office buildings will be turned into an open-air retail development

Codes and Standards

New York City considering bill to prevent building collapses

Student Housing

Student housing construction dips in the first quarter of 2024

More In Category

Contractors

Nonresidential construction spending rises 0.2% in March 2024 to $1.19 trillion

National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.2% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.19 trillion.

AEC Tech

Lack of organizational readiness is biggest hurdle to artificial intelligence adoption

Managers of companies in the industrial sector, including construction, have bought the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative technology, but their organizations are not ready to realize its promise, according to research from IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company. An IFS survey of 1,700 senior decision-makers found that 84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI.

Hotel Facilities

The U.S. hotel construction market sees record highs in the first quarter of 2024

As seen in the Q1 2024 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), at the end of the first quarter, there are 6,065 projects with 702,990 rooms in the pipeline. This new all-time high represents a 9% year-over-year (YOY) increase in projects and a 7% YOY increase in rooms compared to last year.

Construction Costs

New download: BD+C's April 2024 Market Intelligence Report

Building Design+Construction's monthly Market Intelligence Report offers a snapshot of the health of the U.S. building construction industry, including the commercial, multifamily, institutional, and industrial building sectors. This report tracks the latest metrics related to construction spending, demand for design services, contractor backlogs, and material price trends.

Most Popular Content