Economic Outlook Update releases latest quarterly analysis of business spending

The lastest data from Business Valuation Resources  (www.bvresources.com) was released this week, and it shows growth in most categories of business investment.  According to Economic Outlook Update, business spending, also known as nonresidential fixed investment, continued to drop during the third quarter of 2009, decreasing at a rate of 2.5%. The third quarter’s decline is much less severe than last quarter’s decline of 9.6%, and the first quarter of 2009’s large drop of 39.2%.  In 2008, business spending grew by 1.6%, compared to increases of 6.2% in 2007 and 7.9% in 2006. Business spending on structures (nonresidential structures) decreased 9.0% this quarter after decreasing 17.3% last quarter. Business expenditures on equipment and software increased by an annual rate of 1.1%—the first increase since the fourth quarter of 2007.