Value of New Construction Sees Mild Increase in May to $1,035.8 Billion

The U.S. Census Bureau said construction spending during May 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,035.8 billion, 0.8% above the revised April estimate of $1,027 billion. The May figure is 8.2% above the May 2014 estimate of $957.6 billion. During the first five months of this year, construction spending amounted to $382.1 billion, 5.9% above the $360.8 billion for the same period in 2014.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $752.4 billion, 0.9% above the revised April estimate of $745.6 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $359.5 billion in May, 0.3% above the revised April estimate of $358.5 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $392.8 billion in May, 1.5% above the revised April estimate of $387.1 billion.

Office construction saw a more moderate increase in May than its torrid year-over-year (YOY) pace, creeping up 0.8% to $46.6 billion. That construction figure is up 26.9% over its May 2014 figure of $36.7 billion.

Public construction. In May, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $283.4 billion, 0.7% above the revised April estimate of $281.5 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $65.3 billion, 0.7% below the revised April estimate of $65.8 billion. Public commercial construction, while a smaller category, saw the biggest increase, surging 10.2% to $2.3 billion. That’s 13.6% over its $2 billion total in May 2014.