­­­Construction Put-in-Place, (CPIP): Total U.S. construction spending continued to perform well in December 2020, especially in the Private sector. Census Bureau non-seasonally adjusted (NSA), constant dollar CPIP data showed that December’s three month total (3MT) construction expenditures grew by 9.6% year on year (y/y) to $369.7 billion. Private expenditures advanced 11.2% y/y, State & Local advanced by 5.0% and Federal expenditures grew 7.0% 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 73.8% of the total three months’ expenditures ending in December. State & local spending accounted for 24.5%, while the remaining 1.6% was for federally financed projects. The private sector posted +11.2% and +8.6% for 3MT and 12MT y/y comparisons, resulting in a 2.7% increase in momentum for the month of December.  

Single-family residential construction recorded a 22.5% increase on a 3MT basis and 11.0% increase on a 12MT basis.

Non-residential Construction: Table 2 shows the breakdown of non-residential construction (NRC). The overall growth rate was 6.7% on a 3MT basis y/y and 8.2% on a 12MT y/y basis, resulting in a negative 1.5% momentum.

The growth rate of private NRC was 6.4% for 3MT and 7.7% for 12MT, leading to a negative momentum score of 1.3% y/y. 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.