To: Knighty Tin who wrote (17275 ) 12/1/2004 11:03:06 AM From: mishedlo Respond to of 116555 U.S. construction outlays flat in October - Wednesday, December 1, 2004 3:30:24 PMafxpress.com WASHINGTON (AFX) -- U.S. construction outlays were unchanged in October, as increased spending on highways was offset by a second straight monthly decline in homebuilding, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday Economists had been looking for seasonally adjusted construction outlays to rise about 0.8 percent in October, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch. Outlays in September were revised slightly higher, to a 0.1 percent gain from no change previously. After providing a lift to economic activity over the past four years, construction has had fairly a benign impact for the past few months Construction outlays are up 7.1 percent in the past 12 months, but this pace has slowed to just 1.7 percent for the most recent six-month period. In the third quarter, investments in homes and business structures contributed just 0.1 percentage point to the 3.9 percent increase in the nation's gross domestic product Private-sector outlays fell 0.3 percent in October to $773.4 billion on an annualized basis, after slipping 0.1 percent in September. Private residential construction spending sank 0.3 percent to $549.4 billion for the second month in a row. U.S. residential spending is up 10.9 percent in the past 12 months, according to the Commerce Department's dataPrivate nonresidential construction spending fell 0.4 percent to $224 billion in October, marking the largest decline since January Spending on private commercial space dropped 1.6 percent. Spending on offices, health-care and religious buildings also declined, while the biggest October gains came in communication and transportation Public-sector construction outlays rose 1.2 percent to $236 billion, with state and local spending climbing 1.5 percent to $218.4 billion. Outlays for highways and streets rose 6.4 percent to $66.7 billion, accounting for most of the gains. Spending on power rose 5.8 percent, while health-care construction spending increased 5.6 percent In Wednesday's other economic reports, the Commerce Department said the nation's consumer spending increased 0.7 percent in October, with personal incomes rising 0.6 percent. Separately, the Institute for Supply Management's November manufacturing index rose to 57.8 percent from 56.8 percent in October.