Construction Spending Down 1.1 Percent in February: US Census Bureau
By Daniel Edward Rosen April 2, 2012 2:37 pm
reprintsConstruction spending across the country dropped by 1. 1 percent in the month of February, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce.
Spending for the month of February was at $808.9 billion this year, a drop from the $818.1 billion spent during the month of January, the report said.
Despite the drop, the amount spent on construction was markedly higher – by 5.8 percent– than the $764.2 billion spent on construction in February 2011.
There was a drop in private construction projects, especially in nonresidential building, by 1.6 percent from the month of January at an estimated $285.3 billion. Overall, $527.3 billion was spent on private construction in February, a 0.8 percent drop from January. Projects for power and transportation-related developments were among those that saw notable declines in spending.
Funding for public construction also fell by 1.7 percent to $281.6 billion. Funding for education construction, at an estimated $69.4 billion, dropped by 2.5 percent from January. Highway construction also dropped by 2.6 percent to $79.4 billion from the $81.5 billion spent in January.
The new figures show that there is a lull in the private and public construction markets, said Trent Langley, a section chief for the Construction Expenditures Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau.
“This happens when some projects just don’t spend a certain amount in a given month,” he said. “It affects these numbers.”
drosen@observer.com
