Marginal Decline in July Value of New Construction to $1,219.2 Billion

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that construction spending during July 2017 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,211.5 billion, -0.6% below the revised June estimate of $1,219.2 billion. The July figure is +1.8% above the July 2016 estimate of $1,189.8 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $691.2 billion, +4.7% above the $659.9 billion for the same period in 2016.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $945.5 billion, -0.4% below the revised June estimate of $949.4 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $517.5 billion in July, +0.8% above the revised June estimate of $513.2 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $428.0 billion in July, -1.9% below the revised June estimate of $436.2 billion. Office construction, which over the past few months has been one of the  strongest segments of private construction, saw a -1% decline in July to $62.1 billion. The three other largest private construction segments — commercial (-4.7%); power  (-0.1%); and manufacturing (-0.5%);were also down for the month

Public construction. In July, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $266.0 billion, -1.4% below the revised June estimate of $269.8 billion. Educational construction, the biggest segment of public construction outside of the highway and street segment, was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $66.2 billion,- 4.4% below the revised June estimate of $69.2 billion.