Construction spending rises 7.1%

By Patrick Anderson
PBN Staff Writer

WASHINGTON – National construction spending rose 7.1 percent in January compared with the same period in 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of $827 billion improved on the January 2011 estimate of $772 billion and was down just slightly from the revised December 2011 rate of $827.6 billion.

For January, private construction spending was flat from December at an annual rate of $538.7 billion, while public construction spending declined .2 percent from the seasonally adjusted December rate.

Residential construction was up 1.8 percent in January to $538.7 billion, compared with $249.2 billion in December. Non-residential private construction declined 1.5 percent in January compared with December.

In the public sector, January school construction spending of an annualized rate of $71.6 billion was down .9 percent from December and highway construction spending of $83.7 billion was down 0.2 percent from the previous month.