by Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock
Mish Talk
March construction spending was revised from from a prior reported 0.3% to 1.5%, but the good news stops there. April construction spending declined a whopping 1.8%, the most since January 2011.
Bloomberg Econoday spins this a bit more positive than I do, so let’s take a look.
Highlights
A major downturn for construction spending in April is offset to a large degree by a major upward revision to the prior month. Construction spending fell 1.8 percent in April for the worst reading since January 2011. But March’s gain, initially at only plus 0.3 percent, is now plus 1.5 percent. And February is also revised higher, up 4 tenths to plus 1.4 percent. Still, the year-on-year rate does point to slowing, at plus 4.5 percent which is down from a long run in the high single digits and the lowest since June 2013.