Value of New Construction Spending Ends 2019 Roughly Even with 2018

Construction spending during Dec. 2019 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,327.7 billion, -0.2% below the revised November estimate of $1,329.9 billion. The December figure is +5% above the Dec. 2018 estimate of $1,264.8 billion. The value of construction in 2019 was $1,303.5 billion, -0.3% below 2018’s $1,307.2 billion.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $991.2 billion, - 0.1% below the revised November estimate of $992.2 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $540.7 billion in December, +1.4% above the revised November estimate of $533.3 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $450.5 billion in December, -1.8% below the revised November estimate of $458.9 billion.

The value of private construction in 2019 was $974.7 billion, -2.5% below the $1,000.2 billion spent in 2018. Residential construction in 2019 was $514.3 billion, -4.7% below the 2018 figure of $539.6 billion, and nonresidential construction was $460.4 billion, virtually unchanged from 2018.

Public construction. In December, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $336.4 billion, -0.4% below the revised November estimate of $337.7 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $80.4 billion, -2.1% below the revised November estimate of $82.1 billion. The value of public construction in 2019 was $328.8 billion, +7.1% above the $307.1 billion spent in 2018. Educational construction in 2019 was $79.0 billion, +3.4% above the 2018 figure of $76.4 billion.