Published on 2 Apr 2024 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance

Construction Spending Strong in February: 5 Stocks to Buy

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported slightly lower Construction spending in February from January’s revised reading. The metric declined 0.3% month over month and missed analysts’ expectations of 0.7% due to weaknesses in non-residential and public projects.Nonetheless, the reported metric rose 10.7% from the February 2023 reading. Defying a decline in outlays on public projects, improved residential market, increased repair and remodeling activities, higher infrastructure investments and the Federal Government’s anticipation of potential rate cuts in the latter part of 2024 are encouraging.

Inside the Numbers

The private residential construction increased 0.7% month over month and 6.3% from the prior year’s levels. The improvement in new single-family construction in recent months, backed by a lack of existing home inventory, has contributed to the upside.Spending on public construction projects declined 1.2% from January’s revised reading but increased 16.8% year over year. Public construction spending was up on an increase of 19.9% in the residential market and 16.8% in the non-residential market.