U.S. Construction Industry Fueling Increased 2.5% Year-Over-Year in
June, Down 0.5% versus Previous Month
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 22, 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 an increase of 2.5% in
June 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 June 2013, the WEX Construction FCI
reported that fuel consumption by U.S. construction companies increased
2.5% versus June 2012 and decreased 0.5% versus the previous month.
The WEX Construction FCI, which is available monthly in advance of the
U.S. Census Bureau figures on construction spending, is available at http://www.wexinc.com/fuel-consumption-index.
Last month’s WEX Construction FCI reflected the upward trend for the
index, and additional government data releases were generally in line
with the 0.7% increase indicated by the seasonally-adjusted index in
May. Private residential construction increased by 0.7% in May and
construction spending excluding improvements – a good measure of
activity – grew by 0.3% in the same period. Housing starts jumped in May
by 6.8% to an annual rate of 914,000; however, housing permits slipped
by 3.1% to an annual rate of 974,000, which reflects a setback since
reaching a five-year high in April. Total construction put-in-place,
which is released a month later than the WEX Construction FCI, increased
by 0.5% in May. The total employment report was positive with an
increase of 195,000 jobs, and the construction industry gained 13,000
jobs, which was better than expected. This indicated that the private
sector is largely shrugging off the federal government spending
sequester.
IHS Analysis
According to the IHS analysis, despite the month-to-month decrease in
June for the WEX Construction FCI, the housing market has been showing
signs of improvement. New home sales increased by 2.1% in May to a
476,000-unit annual rate. Meanwhile, existing home sales rose 4.2% in
May and total inventory increased by 3.3%, which is a sign that rising
home prices are bringing more homes onto the market, but inventory
remains 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 market and boosting household wealth. Household real
estate wealth increased by $2.5 trillion in the five quarters ending in
the first quarter of 2013, according to the Flow of Funds report. A
buildup of this size of household real estate wealth in such a short
period is unprecedented. The recovery in housing would be even stronger
were it not for the difficult lending requirements facing would-be
buyers. Although rates remain low from a historical perspective, a
recent uptick in mortgage rates has also placed some pressure on buyers.
The WEX Construction FCI for June 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 WEXInc.com.
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Source: WEX Inc.
News media contact:
WEX Inc.
Jessica Roy, 207-523-6763
Jessica.Roy@wexinc.com