Commerce Dept. Says New Construction Increases 7.1% YTY in January to $827 Billion

Construction spending during Jan. 2012 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $827 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised December estimate of $827.6 billion, according to the Department of Commerce. The January figure is 7.1 percent above the Jan. 2011 estimate of $770 billion.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $538.7 billion, nearly the same as the revised December estimate of $538.7 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $253.6 billion in January, 1.8 percent above the revised December estimate of $249.2 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $285 billion in January, 1.5 percent below the revised December estimate of $289.5 billion.

Of the major private construction market segments of interest to the electrical industry, the manufacturing area suffered the biggest decline in January with a 5.9% drop to $40.4 billion. This is still 38.5% ahead of Jan. 2011. The market segment that enjoyed the biggest increase ahead of Jan. 2011 was electric power construction, which at $73 billion was up 41.2%.

Public construction. In January, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $288.3 billion, 0.2 percent below the revised December estimate of $289 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $71.6 billion, 0.9 percent below the revised December estimate of $72.2 billion. Commercial construction dropped the most from Dec. 2011, sliding 16.3% to $3 billion for the month.