Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $679.6 billion, 0.5% above the revised February estimate of $676.3 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $369.8 billion in March, 0.8% above the revised February estimate of $367 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $309.8 billion in March, 0.2% above the revised February estimate of $309.3 billion. The private construction category is home to the most promising economic indicators. Overall, it’s up 12.5% year-over-year to $679.6 billion, and multi-family residential and office construction are showing some real strength in their year-over-year data. New housing with five or more units was up 4.4% in March to $39.1 billion and 32.5% over March 2013. New private office construction was up 13.5% YTY to $34 billion in March.
Public construction. In March, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $262.9 billion, 0.6% below the revised February estimate of $264.5 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $58.4 billion, 2.3% below the revised February estimate of $59.8 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $84.0 billion, 0.5% above the revised February estimate of $83.6 billion.