September Construction Up Slightly Over August But is Down 11.2 Percent YTY

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that construction spending during September 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $801.7 billion, 0.5 percent above the revised August estimate of $797.5 billion. The September figure is 10.4 percent below the September 2009 estimate of $894.8 billion. During the first nine months of this year, construction spending amounted to $612.6 billion, 11.2 percent below the $689.9 billion for the same period in 2009.

Private construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $482 billion, nearly the same as the revised August estimate of $481.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $242.2 billion in September, 1.8 percent above the revised August estimate of $237.9 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $250.3 billion in September, 1.6 percent below the revised August estimate of $254.3 billion.

Office construction was up 1.6 percent for the month but is way off from September 2009 (-24.5%).

Public construction

In September, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $319.7 billion, 1.3 percent above the revised August estimate of $315.5 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $78.1 billion, 1.6 percent above the revised August estimate of $76.9 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $84.9 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised August estimate of $85 billion. Manufacturing construction was down 3.5 percent for the month and was off 35.5 percent YTY.

Value Of New Construction Put In Place — September 2010

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

Sep '10₁Aug '10₂ChangeSep '09ChangeTotal Construction 801.7 797.5 0.5 894.8 -10.4 Total Private Construction₁ 482 481.9 0 579.3 -16.8 Residential 242.2 237.9 1.8 255.7 -5.3 New single family 107.7 110.5 -2.6 107.7 -0.1 New multi-family 12.9 12.5 3.3 23.1 -44.3 Lodging 10.5 11.4 -7.8 22.3 -53 Office 36.0 35.4 1.6 47.7 -24.5 Commercial 39.3 40.3 -2.5 49.9 -21.3 Health care 40.8 40.0 1.8 44.7 -8.9 Educational 91.4 90.1 1.4 98.2 -7 Religious 5.1 5.1 1.1 5.9 -14.1 Amusement and recreation 18.1 17.8 1.6 18.4 -1.7 Transportation 41.3 39.6 4.1 41.1 0.4 Communication 17.8 18.2 -2.4 19.9 -10.8 Power 75.3 76.1 -1 91.1 -17.3 Electric 48.2 48.4 -0.3 63.2 -23.7 Manufacturing 36.7 38.0 -3.5 56.8 -35.5 Public construction ₂ 319.7 315.5 1.3 315.5 1.3 Residential 10.5 10.2 2.3 8.3 25.6 Office 13.3 12.7 4.6 14.3 -6.9 Commercial 2.6 2.6 -0.1 3.8 -31 Health care 10.7 10.2 5 10.3 4.6 Educational 78.1 76.9 1.6 82 -4.8 Public safety 11.7 11.7 0.5 13.2 -10.9 Amusement and recreation 11.2 11.2 0 11.5 -2.2 Transportation 32.9 31.3 5.1 32.2 2 Power 12.8 13.1 -1.8 11 16.9 Highway and street 84.9 85 -0.1 84.5 0.4 Sewage and waste disposal 27.2 27.1 0.3 23.7 14.6 Water supply 15.7 15.7 0 14.9 5.5 Conservation and development 6.5 6.6 -2.2 5.2 25.9

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.