Value of New Construction Ends 2010 10.3 Percent Below 2009 Levels

In one final punch in the gut for 2010 to construction economists and others who track construction statistics, the Department of Commerce said construction spending during Dec. 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $787.9 billion, 2.5 percent below the revised November estimate of $807.8 billion. The December figure is 6.4 percent below the Dec. 2009 estimate of $841.8 billion. The value of construction in 2010 was $814.2 billion, 10.3 percent below the $907.8 billion spent in 2009.

Private construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $486.9 billion, 2.2 percent below the revised November estimate of $498 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $226.4 billion in December, 4.1 percent below the revised November estimate of $236.1 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $260.5 billion in December, 0.5 percent below the revised November estimate of $261.9 billion.

The value of private construction in 2010 was $507.3 billion, 14.3 percent below the $592.3 billion spent in 2009. Residential construction in 2010 was $241.4 billion, 1.7 percent below the 2009 figure of $245.6 billion and nonresidential construction was $265.9 billion, 23.3 percent below the $346.7 billion in 2009.

Public construction

In December, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $301 billion, 2.8 percent below the revised November estimate of $309.8 billion. The value of public construction in 2010 was $306.8 billion, 2.7 percent below the $315.5 billion spent in 2009.

Value Of New Construction Put In Place — December 2010

Value of Construction Put-in-Place ($ billions, seasonally adjusted annual rate)Dec '10₁Nov'10₂Mo. % ChangeDec '09YTY % ChangeTotal Construction 787,878 807,775 -2.5 841,827 -6.4 Total Private Construction¹ 486,867 497,975 -2.2 540,006 -9.8 Residential 226,377 236,109 -4.1 242,961 -6.8 New single family 107,367 106,837 0.5 112,141 -4.3 New multi-family 13,357 14,104 -5.3 18,476 -27.7 Nonresidential 260,491 261,867 -0.5 297,046 -12.3 Lodging 8,850 9,331 -5.2 17,245 -48.7 Office 21,440 21,388 0.2 29,359 -27.0 Commercial 34,750 35,117 -1.0 42,685 -18.6 Health care 29,778 30,119 -1.1 31,969 -6.9 Educational 13,058 13,333 -2.1 14,658 -10.9 Religious 4,910 5,256 -6.6 5,538 -11.3 Amusement and recreation 6,383 6,399 -0.3 5,928 7.7 Transportation 8,913 8,886 0.3 8,702 2.4 Communication 18,022 17,749 1.5 19,861 -9.3 Power 80,102 79,542 0.7 75,733 5.8 Manufacturing 33,016 33,448 -1.3 43,955 -24.9 Total Public Construction² 301,010 309,800 -2.8 301,820 -0.3 Residential 9,322 10,423 -10.6 8,693 7.2 Office 11,676 12,939 -9.8 15,212 -23.2 Commercial 2,930 3,044 -3.7 3,631 -19.3 Health care 9,448 9,815 -3.7 9,643 -2.0 Educational 68,225 70,834 -3.7 76,799 -11.2 Public safety 10,279 10,971 -6.3 13,026 -21.1 Amusement and recreation 10,536 11,400 -7.6 10,276 2.5 Transportation 30,342 30,103 0.8 30,233 0.4 Power 15,640 14,270 9.6 9,026 73.3 Highway and street 84,934 86,333 -1.6 78,999 7.5 Sewage and waste disposal 24,733 25,317 -2.3 23,973 3.2 Water supply 15,069 15,432 -2.4 15,157 -0.6 Conservation and development 6,395 7,710 -17.1 6,341 0.9

1-Preliminary; 2-Revised

Note: The U.S. Census department changed its construction categories beginning with its May 2003 statistics.

With the changes in the project classifications, data now presented are not directly comparable with those data previously published in the regular-format press releases and tables. Direct comparisons can only be made at the total, total private, total state and local, total federal, and total public levels for annual and not seasonally adjusted monthly data. For more information, check out http://www.census.gov/const/www/c30index.html.