The headline construction spending print was celebrated, rising a better-than-expected 1.3% MoM (the most since April 2018) in January, but below the surface the story is notably mixed.
Private Residential building spending dropped 0.3% MoM – the sixth straight monthly decline (and private residential home improvement spending fell 0.3% in Jan. to $181.3b). But the headline was saved by a surge in non-residential building spending of 2.4% MoM – the biggest jump since Jan 2016.
And it was government spending that rescued the headline as public construction rose 4.9% in Jan – the largest increase since March 2004. Government construction spending was 24.5% of total in Jan thanks to a massive surge in infrastructure spending on Highway and Street improvements…
So, the summary of today’s construction spending data is that non-governmental spending is extremely weak (the biggest YoY drop since Dec 2010), signaling a lack of confidence…
…and only government-spending is saving the economy.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2TI7qvU Tyler Durden