The U.S. Census Bureau reported a slight decrease in total construction spending for January 2025. The seasonally adjusted annual rate was estimated at $2,192.5 billion, representing a 0.2% decrease from the revised December 2024 figure, but a 3.3% increase from January 2024. Private construction spending also experienced a 0.2% decrease, reaching $1,690.1 billion. Residential construction declined by 0.4% to $932.7 billion, while nonresidential construction remained relatively stable at $753.3 billion. Public construction spending saw a marginal increase of 0.1%, reaching $506.6 billion, with educational construction decreasing by 0.4% to $109.8 billion and highway construction increasing by 0.6% to $145.0 billion.

The February release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book summary of economic conditions reported that economic activity varied across districts, with most experiencing moderate growth and some seeing slight declines. Consumer spending decreased, especially on non-essential goods, due to price sensitivity among lower-income consumers. The leisure and hospitality sectors were negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions. Vehicle sales fell, but manufacturing activity showed slight growth amid concerns about trade policy changes. Banking activity increased modestly, while residential real estate markets remained mixed due to low inventory. Labor markets improved slightly, particularly in healthcare and finance, and wage growth was moderate, though prices generally rose, with input costs rising faster than sales prices. Overall, businesses were less optimistic about future economic conditions.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase of 151,000 jobs and a 0.1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate to 4.1% for February. The number of unemployed increased slightly to 7.052 million. A year earlier, the unemployment rate was 3.9%, and the number of unemployed was 6.462 million. Job gains were seen in several sectors, including health care (+52,000), financial activities (+21,000), transportation & warehousing (+18,000), and social assistance (+11,000). However, federal government employment decreased by 10,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.3% to $35.93, representing a 4.0% rise from a year ago. The labor force participation rate dipped slightly to 62.4%. Long-term unemployment held steady at 1.45 million, making up 20.9% of all unemployed, and the number of permanent job losses among the unemployed was little changed at 1.748 million. Revisions to the December-January figures showed that 2,000 fewer jobs were added than were initially reported.