Construction spending increased 0.1 percent from December to January, setting a $943.1 billion seasonally adjusted annual rate that was 9.3 percent higher than the spending pace in January 2013. Single-family and multi-family construction posted slight increases, and public construction spending declined 0.8 percent from the December rate.

Construction put in place reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $943.1 billion in January, up 0.1 percent from December and 9.3 percent above the $863.1 billion rate set in January 2013. The January figure was $64.7 billion on an unadjusted basis, compared to $59.1 billion the previous year.

Total private construction was at a seasonally adjusted rate of $670.8 billion, an increase of 0.5 percent from the revised December estimate of $667.5 billion and 12.3 percent above the rate of $597.4 billion in January 2013. The unadjusted value of private construction in January was $47.49 billion compared to $51.1 billion in December and $42.1 billion one year earlier.

New single-family construction reached a $186 billion pace, and multifamily construction improved to $36.3 billion, increases of 2.3 percent and 1.0 percent respectively from December, when the construction totals were $181.9 billion and $36 billion. On an annual basis, single-family construction increased 21 percent from $153.7 billion and multifamily construction was up 28 percent from $28.3 billion. On an unadjusted basis, private single-family construction in January was estimated at $12.7 billion and multifamily at $2.8 billion, compared to $13.3 billion and $2.8 billion in December.

Privately owned residential construction posted a rate of $359.9 billion in total, an increase of 1.1 percent from the $356 billion pace reached in December and up 14.6 percent from $314 billion year-over-year. Total public construction spending in January was at a seasonally adjusted $272.3 billion, 0.8 percent below the revised December estimate of $274.4 billion but 2.5 percent higher than total spending in January 2013, estimated at $265.7 billion. Public spending for residential construction was down 22.2 percent from a year earlier to $4.5 billion from $5.8 billion and 13.4 percent below December's $5.2 billion in residential expenditures.