June Construction Spending Declines

One of the few positive notes from a report on June construction spending was that money spent on the construction of office buildings increased, with $15 billion spent for the month. Overall, construction spending was down slightly from May figures.

Construction spending was down slightly in June, according to a report released by the Commerce Department.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate for spending in June 2008 was $1.082 trillion, a 0.4 percent decrease over May and 5.9 percent below the June 2007 estimate. During the first six months of this year, construction spending amounted to $514.2 billion, 5.4 percent below the $543.6 billion for the same period in 2007.

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $780.6 billion, 0.4 percent below the revised May estimate of $783.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $372.5 billion, 1.8 percent below the May estimate, while nonresidential construction rose 0.8 percent over May with spending estimated at $404.8 billion.

Public construction spending was estimated at $301.3 billion in June, 0.2 percent below the May estimate. Educational construction and highway construction – typically above their previous months – were both down in June, with spending estimates of $84.4 billion and $74.9 billion respectively. On the positive side, spending on office building projects was up 3.4 percent at $15 billion.

Source: Commerce Department