New Construction Spending Slips in November

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday morning that construction spending in November decreased by 0.4% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.123 trillion from the upwardly revised estimate of $1.127 trillion in October. Compared with November 2014, spending is up 10.5%.

For the first 10 months of 2014, new construction spending is up 10.7% at an estimated total of $888.1 billion, compared with the 10-month total of $802.3 billion in 2014.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.7% in construction spending for October.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction rose 0.3% to $427.9 billion, compared with the revised October total of $426.8 billion. Private nonresidential construction slipped 0.7% month over month, and total private construction spending fell 0.2% to $828.2 billion, compared with a revised October total of $829.7 billion.
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In the private sector, single-family residential construction is 9.3% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction is up 9.3% from November 2014. Private, nonresidential construction is up 13.6% year over year.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending fell 1% compared with October and is now 6% higher compared with November 2014. Spending on educational facilities rose 5% month over month and is up 15.2% from November 2014 spending. Public residential construction fell 1.2% month over month and is up 20.6% compared with November 2014.