The Department of Commerce said construction spending during May was at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $753.5 billion, 0.6 percent below the revised April estimate of $757.9 billion. The May construction spending figure is 7.1 percent below the May 2010 estimate of $811.2 billion. During the first five months of this year, construction spending amounted to $285.1 billion, 6.3 percent below the $304.4 billion for the same period in 2010.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $477.2 billion, 0.4 percent below the revised April estimate of $479.3 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $228.9 billion in May, 2.1 percent below the revised April estimate of $233.8 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $248.3 billion in May, 1.2 percent above the revised April estimate of $245.4 billion.

Public construction. In May, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $276.3 billion, 0.8 percent below the revised April estimate of $278.6 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $68.6 billion, 2.3 percent below the revised April estimate of $70.2 billion.

The key construction categories with the biggest decreases over the past 12 months included lodging (-28.8%); manufacturing (-19.6%); office (-12.4%); and single-family home construction (-11.9%). On the flip side, construction of electric power facilities increased significantly both month-to-month (+5.2%) and year-to-year (+27.2%).