Value of New Construction Logs Small February Decline But 2.1% YOY Gain

The Department of Commerce said construction spending during Feb. 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $967.2 billion, 0.1% below the revised January estimate of $967.9 billion. The February figure is 2.1% above the Feb. 2014 estimate of $947.1 billion. During the first two months of this year, construction spending amounted to $132.9 billion, 2% above the $130.3 billion for the same period in 2014.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $698.2 billion, 0.2% above the revised January estimate of $696.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $349.9 billion in February, 0.2% below the revised January estimate of $350.5 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $348.4 billion in February, 0.5% above the revised January estimate of $346.5 billion.

The various construction segments were all over the board, with wide monthly swings in growth or declines. On the plus side, manufacturing was up 6.8% to $69.1 billion and lodging was up 5.5% to $16.2 billion. Private electric utility construction led the declining categories with a 9.3% drop to $35.9 billion, followed by a 6.1% decline in communications construction to $14.8 billion.

Public construction. In February, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $268.9 billion, 0.8% below the revised January estimate of $271 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $59.1 billion, 0.2% above the revised January estimate of $58.9 billion.