Construction Spending – United States

Construction spending gauges the level of construction activity in the United States . The Construction Spending report looks at both residential and non-residential construction. The construction industry makes a significant contribution to the United States GDP in the form of investment expenditure as well as stimulus of industries related to building. Furthermore, since builders are unlikely to pour money into construction projects unless they feel the economy favors their investment, changes in business sentiment like this are usually quickly seen in construction figures. However, the report has little significance for market participants because of its untimely release. By the time the report is announced other reports, such building permits and building starts have already provided similar information.

The report headline is the percentage change from the previous month.

Technical notes: The construction industry is a major force to the United States economy, even without including non-construction businesses that are tied to building, such as finance, the furnishing industry, appliance industry and other manufacturing. Private Construction activity can be an effective indicator of business confidence.

Relevance: Rarely affects markets
Release schedule : 10:00 AM (EST); monthly, five weeks after the reported month
Revision schedule: previous two months with new release, can be major
Source of report : U.S. Census Bureau
Web Address : http://www.census.gov
Address of release : http://www.census.gov/const/www/c30index.html

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