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.