U.S. Construction Industry Fueling Down 0.3% Year-Over-Year in April;
Down 2.8% versus Previous Month
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 24, 2012--
Wright
Express Corporation (NYSE: WXS), a leading global provider of
value-based business payment processing and information management
solutions, in collaboration with IHS, the leading global source of
information, insight and analytics, today released results of its Wright
Express Construction Fuel Consumption Index (FCI), which indicated a
decrease of 0.3% in April versus its level the previous year.
The Wright Express Construction FCI measures national fuel consumption
statistics for the construction industry, which provides an accurate and
up-to-date indication of construction activity in the United States.
“Considering the seasonally-adjusted index grew by 3.9% in the previous
month, the results of the April 2012 Fuel Consumption Index may be a
partial correction to the unusually strong growth in March,” said
Michael Dubyak, chairman and chief executive officer of Wright Express.
“Meanwhile, recently released information about U.S. construction
activity reflects the positive turn.”
Wright Express worked with IHS to capture and analyze transaction data
from its closed loop network of more than 180,000 fuel and vehicle
maintenance locations, including over 90 percent of the domestic retail
fuel locations and 45,000 vehicle maintenance locations. With this data,
the Wright Express Construction FCI can be used to identify emerging
trends within the construction industry and the national economy.
The indicators were tested at monthly, quarterly, and annual
frequencies, with the greatest insights produced using the
year-over-year percent change of the monthly data. For April 2012, the
Wright Express Construction FCI reported that fuel consumption by U.S.
construction companies decreased by 0.3% versus April 2011 and decreased
by 2.8% versus the previous month.
The Wright Express Construction FCI, which is available monthly in
advance of the U.S. Census Bureau figures on construction spending, is
available at www.wrightexpress.com/fci.
Last month’s Wright Express Construction FCI showed unusually strong
growth in March and accurately captured the evident general improvement
reflected in the most recent government industry data. Construction
spending excluding improvements – a good measure of activity – grew 0.4%
in March. Total construction put-in-place, increased by 0.1% in March.
Also in March, private residential construction excluding improvements
rose 2.9%, while private nonresidential spending increased by 0.7%.
Additionally, the Wright Express Construction FCI showed a similar
pattern of volatility in March and April compared with the U.S. Census
Bureau’s recently released statistics on housing permits. The number
declined 7.0% in April to an annual rate of 715,000, after a revised
increase of 8.7% in March.
IHS Analysis
According to the IHS analysis, despite recent gains, the industry's
growth has lost some momentum. After three years of depressed
construction, the inventory of new housing is beginning to tighten.
Similar to February, new home sales continued to decline in March, but
inventory continues to shrink. This is good news since builders will
have to replenish stocks by ramping up starts once demand rebounds.
Although, getting rid of the excess housing supply could be a drawn-out
affair. The homeowner vacancy rate measuring the proportion of homes
that are vacant and for sale was 2.3% at the end of 2011. This vacancy
rate is consistent with a glut of about one half of a million houses. At
the current pace, eliminating the overhang should take less than two
years, but will probably take longer, because it is concentrated in a
few high-unemployment states.
The Wright Express Construction FCI for April 2012 is available at www.wrightexpress.com/fci.
About Wright Express
Wright Express (NYSE:WXS) is a leading provider of value-based, business
payment processing and information management solutions. The company’s
fleet, corporate and prepaid payment solutions provide its more than
350,000 customers with unparalleled security and control across a wide
spectrum of business sectors. The company’s operations include Wright
Express Financial Services, Pacific Pride, rapid! PayCard, Wright
Express Prepaid Cards Australia, Wright Express Fuel Cards Australia and
CorporatePay Limited, England. Wright Express and its subsidiaries
employ more than 900 associates in six countries. For more information
about Wright Express, please visit wrightexpress.com.
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Source: Wright Express Corporation
Wright Express Corporation
Jessica Roy, 207-523-6763
Jessica_Roy@wrightexpress.com