The August figure is 13.7 percent (±2.1 percent) above the August 2014 estimate of $955.0 billion.
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Construction spending in the USA increased by slightly more than expected in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. Meanwhile, nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $404.7 billion in August, 0.2 percent above the revised July estimate of $403.8 billion. Private nonresidential construction rose 0.2% month over month and total private construction spending rose 0.7% to $787.98 billion, compared with a revised July total of $782.27 billion. Business spending on structures grew at a 6.2 percent rate during the spring while construction of homes was growing at an even faster 9.3 percent rate after gains of 10 percent over the previous six months. Housing starts fell to a three month low of 1.126 million in August, missing expectations of 1.116 million, and below last month’s downward revised 1.161 million, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said. The year-over-year gains for single-family homes, though lagging other areas of construction is still quite strong at 14.0%.
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Construction spending in August was buoyed by a 1.3 percent jump in private residential construction spending to the highest level since January 2008. The gains were led by gains of 1.3 percent in home building and 0.5 percent in government construction projects. Public construction spending in August was an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate $298.2 billion, 0.5 percent above the revised July estimate of $296.8 billion.
