­­­Construction Put-in-Place, (CPIP): Total U.S. construction spending continued to perform well in October 2020, especially in the Private sector. Census Bureau non-seasonally adjusted (NSA), constant dollar CPIP data showed that October’s three month total (3MT) construction expenditures grew by 6.8% year on year (y/y), to $387.3 billion (B). On a 3MT basis, Private expenditures advanced 8.8% y/y, State & Local advanced by 2.1% y/y, and Federal expenditures advanced 6.3% y/y.

Total Construction: Table 1 presents CPIP data for total construction for both 3 moving total and 12 month moving total y/y metrics. Momentum, defined as 3MT minus 12MT is also shown. Momentum provides market direction with green indicating stronger activity and red indicating slowing activity. Private construction accounted for 71% of the total three months’ expenditures ending in October. State & local spending accounted for 27.2%; the remaining 1.9% was for federally financed projects. The private sector posted 8.8% growth and a 7.1% increase for 3MT and 12MT y/y comparisons, respectively, resulting in a 1.7% increase in momentum for the month of October.  

Single-family residential construction recorded an 11.7% increase on a 3MT basis and 7.5% increase on a 12MT basis.

Non-residential Construction: Table 2 shows the breakdown of non-residential construction (NRC). The overall growth rate was 7.1% on a 3MT y/y, and 7.6% increase on a 12MT y/y basis, resulting in a negative 0.4% momentum.

The growth rate of private NRC was 8.0% increase for the 3MT, and the rolling 12MT value was 6.9%, leading to a positive momentum score of 1.1%. State and local expenditures were positive for both 3MT and 12MT metrics.

At Gerdau we monitor the CPIP numbers every month to keep you, our customers, informed on the health of the U.S. construction market.