The Department of Commerce said construction spending during Nov. 2012 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $866 billion, 0.3% below the revised October estimate of $868.2 billion. The November figure is 7.7% above the Nov. 2011 estimate of $804 billion. During the first 11 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $781.4 billion, 9.2% above the $715.4 billion for the same period in 2011.
Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $589.8 billion, 0.2% below the revised October estimate of $590.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $295.3 billion in November, 0.4% above the revised October estimate of $294.2 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $294.5 billion in November, 0.7% below the revised October estimate of $296.5 billion. At. $12.4 billion and $17 billion, transportation and communications construction showed the biggest increases, respectively, at 3.4% and 2.8%, while construction of religious buildings decreased the most at -5.4%.
Public construction. In November, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $276.2 billion, 0.4% below the revised October estimate of $277.4 billion. Commercial construction increased 8.6% to $3.3 billion. Educational construction, the largest nonresidential category in the public sector outside of highway and street construction, was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $66.8 billion, nearly the same as the revised October estimate of $66.8 billion.
