by Jonathan McGaha | 9 September 2012 12:00 am
Further signaling a lackluster national economy, construction spending – which includes both nonresidential and residential building – decreased 0.9 percent in July, but is up 9.3 percent year over year, according to the Sept. 4 report by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Meantime, nonresidential construction spending fell 0.6 percent in July, with outlays slipping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
$563.2 billion. Year over year, total nonresidential construction spending is up 5.7 percent.
Private nonresidential construction spending declined 0.9 percent for the month, but remains 11.7 higher than one year ago. Public nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.3 percent for the month and is 0.2 percent lower than the same time last year.
Nonresidential construction subsectors posting the largest monthly decreases in spending include conservation and development, down 3.1 percent; manufacturing, down 2.2 percent; and commercial, down 1.8 percent. Construction subsectors registering the biggest cuts in spending from the same time last year include conservation and development, down 16.3 percent; water supply, down 13.1 percent; religious, down 7.3 percent; and communication, down 4.1 percent.
Only five of sixteen nonresidential construction subsectors posted increases in spending for the month, including transportation, up 1.3 percent; religious, up 1.2 percent; public safety, up 0.7 percent; health care, up 0.4 percent; and office, up 0.2 percent. Nine construction subsectors registered double-digit percentage increases from one year ago, including lodging, up 32.5 percent; power, up 17.7 percent; manufacturing, up 17.7 percent; and transportation, up 13.3 percent.
In contrast, residential construction spending fell 1.6 percent for the month, but remains 17.6 percent higher than the same time last year.
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