ANALYSIS:US September Construction Spending +0.3%;Homes +0.3%>

--Residential Excluding New Homes Down 0.6%

--Total Private Spending Fell 0.4%; Public Up 2.6%

--August Construction Rev Down To 0.1%; July Revised Up To -0.9%

By Sara Haire and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Construction spending was up 0.3% in September, 

with a 0.4% decrease in private construction and a larger 2.6% increase 

in public construction, data released by the Commerce Department 

Wednesday morning showed. 

     Analysts had expected construction spending to be unchanged after a 

positive 0.5% reading for August. With the latest data, August 

construction was revised down to a 0.1% increase, while July spending 

was revised up slightly to 0.9% decrease from the 1.2% decline 

previously reported. 

     Private residential construction spending was flat in the month, 

with new home building rising 0.3% based on an MNI calculation. 

Single-family building rose 0.2%, while multi-family building saw a 

larger 0.6% gain from August. Residential construction excluding new 

homes, which captures remodelling was down 0.6% and up 9.6% 

year-over-year.  

     Private nonresidential construction was down 0.8% in September. 

There were increases in lodging, health care, education, and 

transportation that were offset by a large decline in manufacturing 

(3.6%), office, commercial, religious, amusement and recreation, 

communication, and power. 

     Public construction saw an increase of 2.6% in September, following 

a 0.7% rise in August. There were significant percentage gains in power 

and conservation and development, potentially due to hurricane recovery 

efforts. State and local government spending, the much larger portion of 

public construction, was up 2.5% after a 1.0% increase in August, while 

Federal government construction saw a rise of 3.4% in September after a 

2.4% fall in August. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

     [TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$,MT$$$$]