October Construction Up Slightly Over September But Down 9.3 Percent YTY

Dec. 9, 2010
The Department of Commerce said construction spending during October 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $802.3 billion, 0.7 percent above the revised September estimate of $797.1 billion

The Department of Commerce said construction spending during October 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $802.3 billion, 0.7 percent above the revised September estimate of $797.1 billion. The October figure is 9.3 percent below the October 2009 estimate of $884.7 billion. During the first 10 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $684.7 billion, 11.2 percent below the $770.6 billion for the same period in 2009.

Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $481.8 billion, 0.8 percent above the revised September estimate of $477.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $229.6 billion in October, 2.5 percent above the revised September estimate of $224.0 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $252.2 billion in October, 0.7 percent below the revised September estimate of $253.8 billion. Decreases in the key office (-4.8%) and manufacturing (-5.7%) segments from September pulled down spending on private construction projects

Public construction. In October, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $320.5 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised September estimate of $319.2 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $75 billion, 1.7 percent below the revised September estimate of $76.3 billion. The commercial (+14.4%) and power (+13.2%) market segments showed the highest increases in public construction from September to October.