WEX
Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions,
in collaboration with IHS, the leading global source of information and
analytics, today released results of its WEX Construction Fuel
Consumption Index (FCI), which indicated an increase of 1.9% in March
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, Inc. 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 March 2013, the WEX Construction FCI
reported that fuel consumption by U.S. construction companies increased
1.9% versus March 2012 and decreased by 0.9% 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 continued year-over-year
growth indicated by the seasonally-adjusted index in most of the
government’s subsequent construction data releases. Construction
spending excluding improvements – a good measure of activity – rose by
1.3% in February and private residential construction also increased in
the same period by 3.3%. February housing permit statistics were
promising, with total permits increasing by 4.6% and housing starts
ticked up by 0.8% in February, to an annual rate of 917,000. Total
construction put-in-place, which is released a month later than the WEX
Construction FCI, increased by 1.2% in February. In March, the
construction industry added 18,000 jobs after gaining 49,000 jobs in
February, which is the industry’s sixth consecutive double-digit monthly
increase.
IHS Analysis
According to the IHS analysis, the month-to-month decline in March for
the WEX Construction FCI follows a decline in new home sales in
February. New home sales fell by 4.6% in February to a 411,000-unit
annual rate. Meanwhile, existing home sales rose 0.8% in February and
total inventory increased by 9.6% to 1.94 million units.
Despite the increase in new home sales, the existing home inventory
remains extremely lean and the lowest it has been in the month of
February. This is also due to the fact that home prices continue to rise
as inventories are lean, interest rates are low, the economy is growing
and creating jobs, and the share of distressed homes is dropping.
Additionally, 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, which is
due to the low level of housing inventory and low interest rates.
The WEX Construction FCI for March 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 7.6 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
Prepaid Cards Australia, Wright Express Fuel Cards 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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