Value of New Construction Shows Marginal Growth in August But is Tracking +6.5% YOY

Construction spending during August 2018 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,318.5 billion, +0.1% above the revised July estimate of $1,317.4 billion, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. The August figure is +6.5% above the Aug. 2017 estimate of $1,237.5 billion. During the first eight months of this year, construction spending amounted to $862 billion, 5.3% above the $818.7 billion for the same period in 2017.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,001.7 billion, -0.5% below the revised July estimate of $1,006.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $548.9 billion in August, -0.7% below the revised July estimate of $553 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $452.9 billion in August, -0.2% below the revised July estimate of $453.9 billion. Two categories of private construction showed double-digit  increases year-over-year: Office (+12.6%); and Transportation (+19.5%).

Public construction. In August, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $316.7 billion, +2% above the revised July estimate of $310.5 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $72.3 billion, +1% above the revised July estimate of $71.7 billion.

All categories showed year-over-year growth and only two public construction categories  did not show year-over-year increases of at least 10%: Residential (+5.7%); Health care (+4.2%); and Educational (+3.5%).