­­­Construction Put-in-Place, (CPIP): Total U.S. construction spending continued to perform well in February 2022, especially in the private sector. Census Bureau non-seasonally adjusted (NSA), constant dollar CPIP data showed that February’s three month total (3MT) construction expenditures grew by 10.0% year on year (y/y) to $384.3 billion. On a 12MT basis, private expenditures advanced 16.1% y/y, state & local decreased by 0.8% y/y, and federal spend decreased 6.5% y/y.

Total Construction: Table 1 presents CPIP data for total construction for both 3-month total and 12-month 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 78.8% of the total three months’ expenditures ending in February. State & local spending accounted for 19.5%, while the remaining 1.7% was for federally financed projects. The private sector posted 13.3% growth for 3MT y/y and 16.1% growth for 12MT y/y, resulting in a 2.8% decrease in momentum for the month of February.  Single-family residential construction recorded a 19.7% increase on a 3MT y/y basis and a 34.3% increase on a 12MT basis. On a 3MT y/y basis, state and local construction recorded a 1.2% decrease in spending.

Non-residential Construction: Table 2 shows the breakdown of non-residential construction (NRC). The overall rate was positive 3.1% for 3MT y/y, but a 2.2% increase on a 12MT y/y basis, resulting in a +1.0% momentum.

Private NRC was up 6.7% for 3MT, but the 12MT value was a positive 5.1%, leading to a positive momentum of 1.6%. State and local expenditures were negative for 3MT and negative for 12MT metrics.

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