Week in Review: Feb. 3-7

Construction Spending, Jobs, & More

This week was loaded with economic data releases, starting with construction spending on Monday and ending with the jobs report and consumer sentiment on Friday.

If you didn’t see our post about the tariff situation from earlier this week (feels like a lifetime ago), or our full coverage of the January jobs report from earlier today, be sure to check those out.

Monday

Construction Spending

Construction spending grew at a healthy enough pace in December, but that was mostly due to a large increase in residential repair and renovation work. Spending on new residential construction is down over the past year, and nonresidential spending is just barely keeping pace with inflation.

About 94% of the increase in nonresidential spending over the past year was due to data centers and manufacturing structures, two segments so hot that even high interest rates can’t cool their momentum.

ISM Manufacturing PMI

Activity in the manufacturing sector grew in January, according to this survey of industry managers. This was the first monthly growth in over two years. It remains to be seen if these green shoots can survive the recent trade skirmishes.

TSA Checkpoint Travel Numbers

Air travel picked back up over the past week and is now just slightly ahead of last year’s pace, according to TSA data.

Tuesday

Gas Prices & Diesel Prices

Gas prices inched down to $3.21/gallon this week but should start rising as we head toward spring. Diesel prices were unchanged for the week.

Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)