Construction Spending Gained Less than Expected in February

Men work on a construction site for a luxury apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles, California March 17, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,273.1 billion for February, a 0.1% (±1.2%)* gain from the revised January estimate of $1,272.2 billion.

The February figure is 3.0% (±1.5%) above the February 2017 estimate of $1,235.7 billion. Still, construction spending for the first two months of the year amounted to $176.3 billion, which is 4.4% (±1.3%) above the $168.9 billion for the same period in 2017.

Private construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $982.0 billion, or 0.7% (±1.6%)* higher than the revised January estimate of $974.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $533.4 billion in February, or 0.1% (±1.3%)* above the revised January estimate of $532.9 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $448.6 billion in February, a 1.5% (±1.6%)* gain above the revised January estimate of $441.9 billion.

The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $291.1 billion, which is 2.1% (±1.6%) below the revised January estimate of $297.4 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $74.6 billion, 0.5% (±2.6%)* below the revised January estimate of $75.0 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $88.5 billion, 0.2% (±5.4%)* below the revised January estimate of $88.7 billion