Construction spending in August, when projected over a 12-month period, topped the trillion mark, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This seasonally adjusted annual rate of construction put in place spending was estimated at $1.02 trillion in August, which is 0.8 percent (plus or minus 1.9 percent) above the revised July estimate of $1.01 trillion and 10.1 percent (plus or minus 2.4 percent) higher than the August 2003 estimate of $922 billion.
In the first eight months of this year, total construction spending in the U.S. amounted to $646.8 billion, which is 9.4 percent (plus or minus 1.6 percent) above the $591.2 billion reported for the same period in 2003.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of private residential construction was $550.6 billion in August, which is 1.7 percent (plus or minus 1.9 percent) above the revised July estimate of $541.5 billion. In August 2003 total spending on private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $480.9 billion.
Total spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $777.7 billion, which is 1.4 percent (plu sor minus 1.9 percent) above the revised July estimate of $766.8 billion. And nonresidential private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $227 billion in August, which is 0.8 percent (plus or minus 1.9 percent) above the revised July estimate of $225.3 billion.
The U.S. Census bureau notes in the announcement that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular, and “it may take two months to establish an underlying trend for total construction and as long as eight months for specific categories of construction.”
September 2004 data will be released at 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 1, 2004.
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