Economist: U.S. economy and nonresidential construction sector in a ‘holding pattern’

Total non-residential construction spending July 2009 - July 201Despite a 0.9-percent drop in construction spending in July – including both residential and non-residential building – spending is up 9.3 percent year-over-year, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) report, citing the U.S. Census Bureau’s Sept. 4 numbers.

Non-residential construction spending dropped 0.6 percent in July, according to ABC’s report of the U.S. Census Bureau’s numbers. Outlays for July slipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $563.2 billion per year, with year-over-year total non-residential spending reported seeing a 5.7-percent increase, according to ABC.

ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu says that for now, the U.S. economy and nonresidential construction sector appear to be in a “holding pattern.”

“In previous months, there was a well-established pattern of private construction spending gains offset by public construction spending losses,” Basu says in a written statement. “That pattern is no longer in place.

Despite a 0.9-percent drop in construction spending in July – including both residential and non-residential building – spending is up 9.3 percent year-over-year, the Associated Builders and Contractors report from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Sept. 4 numbers.

Non-residential construction spending dropped 0.6 percent in July, according to ABC’s report of the U.S. Census Bureau’s number. Outlays for July slipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $563.2 billion per year, with year-over-year total non-residential spending reported seeing a 5.7-percent increase, according to ABC.

ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu says that for now, the U.S. economy and nonresidential construction sector appear to be in a “holding pattern.”

“In previous months, there was a well-established pattern of private construction spending gains offset by public construction spending losses,” Basu says in a written statement. “That pattern is no longer in place.