MetroIntelligence Economic Update by P. DUFFY
Construction spending edges up 0.4 percent in September, rises 8.7 percent year-on-year
Construction spending during September 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,996.5 billion, up 0.4% from August and 8.7% year-on-year. During the first nine months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,463.5 billion, up 4.6% year-on-year.
Private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $872.0 billion in September, up 0.6% from August but down 2.2% year-on-year. Private spending on single-family homes rose 1.3% from August but was down 5.9% year-on-year. Private spending on multifamily homes fell 0.1% from August but rose 22.3% year-on-year.
https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/release.pdf
Case-Shiller Index up 0.4 percent in August, 2.6 percent year-on-year and 6.4 percent from January
The Case-Shiller National Composite Index rose by 0.4% in August, which marks the seventh consecutive monthly gain since prices bottomed in January 2023. The Composite now stands 2.6% above its year-ago level (up sharply from last month’s annual gain of 1.0%) and 6.4% above its January level, The National Composite, the 10-City Composite, and seven individual cities (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, and New York) stand at their all-time highs. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased in 19 of 20 cities in August.
October manufacturing sector index slips 2.3 points to 46.7
The Manufacturing PMI® registered 46.7 percent in October, 2.3 percentage points lower than the 49 percent recorded in September. The overall economy dropped back into contraction after one month of weak expansion preceded by nine months of contraction and a 30-month period of expansion before that. Seventy-five percent of manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP) contracted in October, up from 71 percent in September. The share of sector GDP registering a composite PMI® calculation at or below 45 percent — a good barometer of overall manufacturing weakness — was 37 percent in October, compared to 6 percent in September and 15 percent in August.
