January’s Value of New Construction Data Picks Up with +5.8% YOY Increase

Construction spending during Jan. 2021 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,521.5 billion, +1.7% above the revised Dec. 20 estimate of $1,496.5 billion. The Jan. 21 figure is +5.8% above the Jan. 2020 estimate of $1,437.7 billion.

Private construction. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,160 billion, +1.7% above the revised December estimate of $1,140.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $713 billion in January, +2.5% above the revised December estimate of $695.7 billion. Single-family construction had a larger YOY increase than any of the other large construction segments, with a +24.2% boost to $376.2 billion. Multi-family construction also had some impressive YOY growth, with a +16.9% increase to $92.7 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $447 billion in January, +0.4% above the revised December estimate of $445.2 billion.

Public construction. In January, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $361.5 billion, +1.7% above the revised December estimate of $355.5 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $89.9 billion, -0.1% below the revised December estimate of $90 billion. While it’s a comparatively small segment of the market, public safety construction had the largest percent increase, with a +26.4% increase over Jan. 20 to $16.2 billion.