The U.S. Census Bureau reported U.S. construction spending increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.174 trillion in October 2024, up (+0.4%) from September and up (+5.0%) from October 2023. Construction spending reached $1.814 trillion in the first 10 months of 2024, (+7.2%) higher than the same time frame in 2023. Residential construction was a primary contributor to the increase, growing (+1.5%) for the month to reach an annual rate of $934 billion. Nonresidential construction decreased, shrinking (-0.3%) to an annual rate of $744.4B. Public construction spending in October was reported at an annual rate of $497.6B, (-0.5%) less than the revised September reading. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for educational construction was $105.3B, which was (-0.4%) less than September’s revised reading. Highway construction spending was reported at an annual rate of $141.1B, (-0.7%) less than September’s revised estimate.

The Commerce Department reported factory orders increased (+0.2%) in October to $586.7B, after two consecutive months of decline. Factory orders are up (+0.4%) year over year. Durable goods orders increased (+0.3%) to $286.8B after declining for two months in a row. With a (+0.5%) increase to $97.0B, transportation accounted for much of the increase in durable goods orders. Orders for non-durable goods increased (+0.1%) to $299.9B after declining for two months in a row. Shipments dropped (-0.2%) to $585.4B after two months of declines. Inventories fell (-0.1%) to $856.8B after falling (-0.3%) in September. Unfulfilled orders rose (+0.4%) to 1.398 trillion. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft or “core” capital goods fell (-0.2%) in October, while shipments of core capital goods increased (+0.3%).

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase of 227,000 jobs in November, as the unemployment rate remained relatively stable at 4.2%. The number of unemployed increased (+200,000) to 7.1 million. A year earlier, the unemployment rate was 3.7%, and the number of unemployed was 6.3 million. Health care (+54,000), leisure & hospitality (+53,000), transportation (+32,000), and government (+33,000) saw job increases, while retail trade (-28,000) had a decrease. There were 1.536 million permanent job losses among the unemployed, a decline of 282,000. The labor force participation changed slightly to 62.5% from 62.7% the previous month; it has consistently remained between 62.5% and 62.7% since December 2023. Average hourly earnings grew 0.4%. At $35.61, average hourly earnings are up 4.0% from a year ago. Revisions to the September and October figures showed that 56,000 more jobs were added than were initially reported.