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Construction spending continued to increase in November

NewDealdemocrat | January 2, 2024 4:00 pm

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US Economics

Construction spending continued to increase in November

– by New Deal democrat

I’m feeling a little under the weather today, so I am going to keep this brief.

Total construction spending rose 0.4% in November, while residential construction rose 1.1%:

Keep in mind that these are nominal numbers, affected by the cost of construction materials.

Typically residential construction moves in tandem with building units under construction. Here’s that comparison:

The resilience in construction is an important reason why the US did not enter recession last year, despite the anemic reports on manufacturing.

Housing under construction continues to levitate, Angry Bear by New Deal democrat

1 Comment

Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 3, 2024 at 9:06 am

Will America’s Good News on Inflation Last?

NY Times – just in

One of the biggest economic surprises of 2023 was how quickly inflation faded. A dig into the details offers hints at whether it will last into 2024.

… inflation cooled in late 2023, a spurt of progress that happened more quickly than economists had expected and that stoked hopes of a gentle economic landing.

Now, the question is whether the good news can persist into 2024.

As forecasters try to guess what will happen next, many are looking closely at where the recent slowdown has come from. The details suggest that a combination of weaker goods prices — things like apparel and used cars — and moderating costs for services including travel has helped to drive the cooldown, even as rent increases take time to fade.

Taken together, the trends suggest that more disinflation could be in store, but they also hint that a few lingering risks loom. …