June New Construction Spending Takes Unexpected Turn Lower

For the first six months of 2014, new construction spending is up 7.8% compared with the first six months of 2013.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.5% in construction spending for June.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction fell 0.2% to $361.34 billion compared with the revised May total of $362.13 billion. Private non-residential construction slipped 2.8% month-over-month and total private construction spending fell 1% to $685.46 billion compared with a revised May total of $692.04 billion.

In the private sector, single family residential construction is 8.5% higher than it was a year ago and multi-family construction is up 33.2% from June 2013. Private, non-residential construction is up 11.2% year-over-year, and down 1.6% from May.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending is down 4% year-over-year. Spending on educational facilities fell 4.9% month-over-month and 6.4% from May 2013 spending. Public residential construction rose 6.3% month-over-month, but fell 12.3% year-over-year.

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