The Department of Commerce said construction spending during Aug. 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $915.1 billion, 0.6% above the revised July estimate of $909.4 billion. The August figure is 7.1% above the Aug. 2012 estimate of $854.0 billion. During the first eight months of this year, construction spending amounted to $581.9 billion, 5.9% above the $549.4 billion for the same period in 2012.
Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $640.5 billion, 0.7% above the revised July estimate of $636.1 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $340.2 billion in August, 1.2% above the revised July estimate of $336.2 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $300.3 billion in August, 0.1% above the revised July estimate of $299.9 billion. Of particular interest to the electrical market is the 1.6% increase in private office construction to $30.2 billion, a 6.2% YTY boost.
Public construction. In August, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $274.5 billion, 0.4% above the revised July estimate of $273.4 billion. Public educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $63.8 billion, 1.3% below the revised July estimate of $64.6 billion and 6.1% off YTY the Aug. 2012 figure of $67.9 billion. Public health-care construction was also down in August, sliding 2.2% to $11.1 billion, an amount that’s down 1.5% YTY from Aug. 2012.