July Construction Activity Drops One Percent and is Down 10.7 Percent YTY

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce said construction spending during July 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $805.2 billion, one percent below the revised June estimate of $813.1 billion. The July figure is 10.7 percent below the July 2009 estimate of $901.2 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $460.3 billion, 11.8 percent below the $522 billion for the same period in 2009. The electric power segment did enjoy a notable monthly increase, jumping 11 percent in July, but it's still down 10.7 percent YTY.

Private construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $506.4 billion, 0.8 percent below the revised June estimate of $510.7 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $240.3 billion in July, 2.6 percent below the revised June estimate of $246.7 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $266.1 billion in July, 0.8 percent above the revised June estimate of $264 billion.

Public construction

In July, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $298.8 billion, 1.2 percent below the revised June estimate of $302.4 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $73 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised June estimate of $73.1 billion.

Value Of New Construction Put In Place — July 2010

Value of Construction Put-in-Place ($ billions, seasonally adjusted annual rate)

July 2010₁ June 2010₂ Mo. % change June 2009 YTY % Change Total Construction 805,159 813,112 -1.0 901,158 -10.7 Total Private Construction ₁ 506,359 510,671 -0.8 576,610 -12.2 Residential 250,519 256,898 -2.5 236,448 6.0 New single family 115,292 118,217 -2.5 101,278 13.8 New multi-family 12,965 13,165 -1.5 26,773 -51.6 Lodging 11,647 11,852 -1.7 25,182 -53.7 Office 35,344 36,293 -2.6 53,190 -33.6 Commercial 40,415 41,567 -2.8 52,532 -23.1 Health care 39,558 39,251 0.8 45,011 -12.1 Educational 86,192 86,463 -0.3 106,293 -18.9 Religious 5,203 5,576 -6.7 6,004 -13.3 Public safety 12,148 12,419 -2.2 14,538 -16.4 Amusement and recreation 17,394 16,623 4.6 19,453 -10.6 Transportation 39,278 40,497 -3.0 40,549 -3.1 Communication 18,532 17,690 4.8 19,562 -5.3 Power 85,187 80,096 6.4 95,788 -11.1 Electric 58,782 52,941 11.0 65,859 -10.7 Highway and street 77,012 79,263 -2.8 82,705 -6.9 Sewage and waste disposal 26,115 25,483 2.5 23,758 9.9 Water supply 15,901 15,520 2.5 15,718 1.2 Conservation and development 6,368 7,308 -12.9 5,676 12.2 Manufacturing 38,348 40,313 -4.9 58,751 -34.7 Total Public Construction ₂ 298,800 302,441 -1.2 324,548 -7.9 Residential 10,268 10,234 0.3 8,715 17.8 Office 12,691 12,875 -1.4 15,413 -17.7 Commercial 2,410 2,654 -9.2 3,945 -38.9 Health care 9,692 9,259 4.7 10,186 -4.8 Educational 73,003 73,106 -0.1 89,901 -18.8 Public safety 11,936 12,235 -2.4 14,081 -15.2 Amusement and recreation 10,903 10,151 7.4 11,537 -5.5 Transportation 31,122 32,353 -3.8 31,549 -1.4 Power 11,173 11,736 -4.8 11,558 -3.3 Highway and street 76,839 79,113 -2.9 82,619 -7.0 Sewage and waste disposal 25,733 25,095 2.5 23,263 10.6 Water supply 15,518 15,186 2.2 15,410 0.7 Conservation and development 6,312 7,244 -12.9 5,657 11.6

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.