Construction spending during October 2005 was estimated at a record seasonally annual rate of $1.13 trillion, about 0.7 percent above the revised September estimate and about 7.9 percent above the October 2004 estimate, the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today.
During the first 10 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $930.9 billion, about 8.8 percent above the $855.3 billion for the same period in 2004. The seasonally adjusted annual rate is a projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations in construction activity.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $877.8 billion, about 0.3 percent above the revised September estimate of $875 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $630 billion in October, about 0.6 percent above the revised September estimate of $626.6 billion and 8.3 percent above the October 2004 rate.
Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $247.7 billion in October, about 0.3 percent below the revised September estimate of $248.4 billion.
In October, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $254 billion, about 1.9 percent above the revised September estimate of $249.1 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $65.7 billion, about 2.8 percent above the revised September estimate of $63.9 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $68.1 billion, about 0.2 percent below the revised September estimate of $68.3 billion, the agencies reported.
Month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular, according to the announcement, 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. The statistics are estimated from several sources and surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as non-sampling error including bias and variance from response, non-reporting, and under-coverage.
Statistics for the current month are preliminary estimates subject to revision in following months as additional data become available, the agencies also noted.
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