US July construction spending +0.7% vs +0.5% expected

• US construction spending for July % versus 0.5% expected
• total construction spending $1,972.6 billion versus $1,938.4 billion last month
• Construction spending year on year +5.5% vs +3.5% prior
• private construction +1.0% vs +0.5% prior
• residential construction +1.4% vs +0.9% prior

Residential construction is down 5.5% y/y but that should rebound in the year ahead. What makes it so hard to read these numbers is that billions of government and government-backed dollars are going into the IRA and CHIPS act spending.