August New Construction Spending Up 14% Year Over Year

For the first eight months of 2014, new construction spending is up 9.8% at an estimated total of $683.4 billion, compared with the eight-month total of $622.4 billion in 2014.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.6% in construction spending for August.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction rose 1.3% to $383.25 billion, compared with the revised July total of $378.49 billion. Private nonresidential construction rose 0.2% month over month and total private construction spending rose 0.7% to $787.98 billion, compared with a revised July total of $782.27 billion.

In the private sector, single family residential construction was 14% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction was up 24.7% from August 2014. Private, nonresidential construction was up 16.9% year over year.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending is up 0.5% compared with July and up 7% compared with August 2014. Spending on educational facilities fell 0.2% month over month, but it is up 4.4% from August 2014 spending. Public residential construction rose 3.5% month over month, and it is up nearly 33% compared with August 2014.

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