Construction Spending
While growth in overall construction spending remains dismal (see chart below), there was some light at the end of the tunnel for residential home building, which rose 0.9% in August. Non-residential spending continues to decline, down 0.4% in August, due to commercial building. The only bright spot here continues to be spending on highways and roads. Total construction spending declined 1.9% year-over-year, which extends a streak of annualized declines that we haven’t seen since leading into the last recession.
PMI and ISM Manufacturing Indices
IHS Markit’s manufacturing index ((PMI)) posted a small increase