August New Construction Spending Climbs Again

The Census Bureau’s report was delayed this month due to the partial shutdown of the federal government.

For the first eight months of 2013, new construction spending was up 5.9%, compared with the first seven months of 2012.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.4% in construction spending for August.

Spending on private residential construction rose 1.2% to $340.2 billion, compared with the downwardly revised July total of $336.2 billion. Private, nonresidential construction rose 0.1% month-over-month, and total private construction spending was up 0.7%, compared with a revised July total of $636.1 billion.

In the private sector, single-family residential construction was 32.2% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction was up 48.9% from August 2012. Private, nonresidential construction was up 1.9% year-over-year and down 1.2% from July.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending was down 4.3% year-over-year, continuing a slide begun in September 2012. Spending on educational facilities fell 8.6% month-over-month and rose 1.6% from July 2013 spending. Public residential construction was up 5.6% month-over-month and was 4.7% lower year-over-year.