The US Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce has released construction spending estimates for December 2014.
Construction spending for the month is estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$982.1 billion. This is 0.4% higher than the revised November 2014 estimate and 2.2% higher than the December 2013 estimate.
Private construction spending estimates for December 2014 came in at US$698.6 billion, up 0.1% on the revised November estimate of US$698.2 billion. Residential construction spending also improved on the previous month, increasing from November’s estimate of US$348.4 billion to US$349.6 billion. However, nonresidential construction spending declined by 0.2%, falling to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$349 billion.
In December 2014, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending totalled US$283.5 billion. This compares to November’s revised estimate of US$280.4 billion. Highway construction spending was 2.1% higher than November’s revised estimate but educational construction spending contracted by 0.6%.
Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham