Economy

New Construction Spending Up 4% in December

Thinkstock

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday morning that construction spending in December rose by 0.2% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of about $1.1815 trillion, below the downwardly revised estimate of $1.182 trillion in November. Compared with December 2015, total spending is up 4.2%.

For all of 2016, new construction spending rose 4.5% to an estimated total of $1.1624 trillion, compared with the 2015 total of $1.1124 billion.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.2% in construction spending for December and a year-over-year spending increase of 4.1%.

For the month of December, private residential construction rose 0.4% month over month to $473.28 billion. Private nonresidential construction dipped 0.7% month over month, and total private construction spending on a seasonally adjusted annual basis rose 0.2% to $896.992 billion, compared with a revised November total of $894.84 billion.

In the private sector, single family residential construction was 0.3% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction was up 11.7% from December 2015. Private, nonresidential construction was up 9.2% year over year.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending fell 1.7% compared with November and was 1.8% lower compared with December 2015. Spending on educational facilities decreased by 2.2% month over month and was up 1.5% from December 2015 spending. Public residential construction fell 3.8% month over month and dropped 3.4% compared with December 2015.

Private sector spending on new housing was up 3.7% year over year through December, and private sector spending on nonresidential construction was up 9.2% year over year. Total public and private construction spending was up 4.2% compared with December 2015.

ALERT: Take This Retirement Quiz Now  (Sponsored)

Take the quiz below to get matched with a financial advisor today.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future

Take the retirement quiz right here.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.