US New Construction Spending Inched Higher in May

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
US New Construction Spending Inched Higher in May

© TeerawatWinyarat / iStock

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday morning that construction spending in May rose by 0.4% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of about $1.309.5 trillion, above the revised estimate of $1.304.5 trillion in April. Compared with May 2017, total spending is up 4.5%.

For all of 2017, new construction spending rose 4.1% to an estimated total of $1.234 trillion, compared with the 2016 total of $1.186 billion. For the first five months of 2018, construction spending totaled $497.1 billion, up 4.3% year over year.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for month-over-month spending to rise by 0.6% in May and a year-over-year increase of 7.6%.

[nativounit]

For February, private residential construction rose by 0.1% month over month to $533.4 billion. Private nonresidential construction rose 1.5% month over month, and total private construction spending on a seasonally adjusted annual basis rose 0.7% to $982 billion, compared with a revised January total of $974.8 billion.

In the private sector, single family residential construction is 8.2% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction is up 4.2% from May 2017. Private, nonresidential construction is up 1.8% year over year.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending rose 0.7% compared with the April rate and is 4.7% higher compared with May 2017. Spending on educational facilities increased by 0.9% month over month and rose 0.4% from last May’s spending. Public residential construction rose 1.4% month over month and decreased by 4.8% compared with May 2017.

Public spending on streets and highways fell 0.2% month over month but rose by 5.8% year over year. Spending on healthcare construction is up 1.6% sequentially and down 3.3% year over year.

[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618