U.S. Construction Industry Fueling Decreased 0.6% Year-Over-Year in May,
Up 0.8% versus Previous Month
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 9, 2013--
WEX
Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions,
in collaboration with IHS, Inc., the leading global source of critical
information and insight, today released results of its WEX Construction
Fuel Consumption Index (FCI), which indicated a decrease of 0.6% in May
versus its level at the same time the previous year.
The WEX 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.
WEX worked with IHS to capture and analyze transaction data from its
closed loop network, which includes over 90 percent of the domestic
retail fuel locations. With this data, the WEX 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 May 2013, the WEX Construction FCI
reported that fuel consumption by U.S. construction companies decreased
0.6% versus May 2012 and increased 0.8% versus the previous month.
The WEX Construction FCI is available at http://www.wexinc.com/fuel-consumption-index.
Last month’s WEX Construction FCI reflected the first year-over-year
decline since September 2012, and additional government data releases
were generally more positive than the 0.7% decline indicated by the
seasonally-adjusted index in April. Private residential construction
increased by 1.7% in April and construction spending excluding
improvements – a good measure of activity – rose by 0.9% in the same
period. Housing permits surged by 14.3% to an annual rate of 1,017,000,
which is the highest rate since June 2008; however, housing starts
dropped in April by 16.5% to an annual rate of 853,000. Total
construction put-in-place, which is released a month later than the WEX
Construction FCI, increased by 0.4% in April. The total employment
report was positive with an increase of 175,000 jobs, and the
construction industry gained 7,000 jobs, indicating that the private
sector is largely shrugging off the federal government spending
sequester.
IHS Analysis
According to the IHS analysis, alongside the month-to-month gain in May
for the WEX Construction FCI, the housing market has also been showing
signs of improvement. New home sales increased by 2.3% in April to a
454,000-unit annual rate. Meanwhile, existing home sales rose 0.6% in
April and total inventory increased by 11.9%, although much of the
increase was seasonal and inventories remain extremely lean.
Home prices continue to rise as a result of these lean inventories, low
interest rates, the growing economy, and the decreased share of
distressed homes. These higher home prices, in turn, are bringing more
builders into the game. The housing market is expected to continue to
improve and outperform the rest of the economy over the next few
quarters, due to the low level of housing inventory and low interest
rates. The recovery in housing would be even stronger if it was not for
the difficult lending requirements facing would-be buyers.
The WEX Construction FCI for May 2013 is available at http://www.wexinc.com/fuel-consumption-index.
About WEX Inc.
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is a leading provider of corporate payment
solutions. From its roots in fleet card payments beginning in 1983, WEX
has expanded the scope of its business into a multi-channel provider of
corporate payment solutions representing more than 7.5 million
cardholders and offering exceptional payment security and control across
a wide spectrum of business sectors. The Company’s operations include
WEX Bank, Fleet One, Pacific Pride, rapid! PayCard, Wright Express
Australia, Wright Express New Zealand and CorporatePay Limited, England,
as well as a majority equity position in UNIK S.A., Brazil. WEX and its
subsidiaries employ more than 1,300 associates. For more information
about WEX, please visit www.wexinc.com.
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Source: WEX Inc.
News media contact:
WEX Inc.
Jessica Roy, 207-523-6763
Jessica.Roy@wexinc.com