U.S. Construction Spending Falls in August

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Invalid Image
The U.S. Census Bureau reported this morning that construction spending in August fell by 0.6% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $837.1 billion from a revised estimate of $842 billion. Compared with August 2011, spending is up 6.5%. For the first eight months of 2012, construction spending is up 9% year-over-year.

Spending on private residential construction rose 0.9% month-over-month, just about the only good news in this month’s report. Private non-residential construction fell 1.2% and total private spending fell 0.5%.

In the private sector, single family residential construction is 20.8% higher than it was a year ago and multi-family construction is up 44.8% from August 2011. Commercial construction fell 1.3% from July and 0.1% year-over-year.

In the public sector, total spending fell 0.8%, with spending on educational facilities down 3.4% from July and 7% from August 2011. Public residential construction rose 1.2% month-over-month, but fell 27.7% year-over-year. Total public construction spending was down 3.5% year-over-year.

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

KMX Vol: 7,330,419
GLW Vol: 22,800,969
INTC Vol: 233,719,006
SMCI Vol: 68,465,534
ENPH Vol: 13,978,376

Top Losing Stocks

ACN Vol: 41,744,333
EPAM Vol: 5,636,587
CTSH Vol: 61,311,400
CTRA Vol: 73,319,495
KR Vol: 26,704,230