Value of New Construction Shows Slight Increase in July, Tracking +5.8% YOY

Construction spending during July 2018 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,315.4 billion, +0.1% above the revised June estimate of $1,314.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Dept. The July figure is +5.8% above the July 2017 estimate of $1,242.8 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $740.5 billion, +5.2% above the $703.7 billion for the same period in 2017.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,010.9 billion, -0.1% below the revised June estimate of $1,011.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $560.1 billion in July, +0.6% above the revised June estimate of $556.7 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $450.9 billion in July, -1% below the revised June estimate of $455.3 billion. At $63 billion, private office construction is one of the larger niches in this category. While it showed  little growth over June, with just a +0.3% increase, office construction year-over-year  is up +6.8%. Construction of private electric power facilities also showed a solid increase year-over-year. It was up +5% in July to $72.9 billion.

Public construction. In July, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $304.5 billion, +0.7% above the revised June estimate of $302.3 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $71.6 billion, +2.1% above the revised June estimate of $70.1 billion, and +1.9% over July 2017.