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The U.S. Census Bureau reported this morning that construction spending in July increased by 0.6%, to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $900.8 billion from an upwardly revised estimate of $895.7 billion in June. Compared with July 2012, spending is up 5.2%. For all of 2012, construction spending rose 9.9% compared with 2011.

For the first seven months of 2013, new construction spending is up 5.6%, compared with the first seven months of 2012.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.3% in construction spending for July.

Spending on private residential construction rose 0.5% to $340.6 billion, compared with the revised June total of $338.9 billion. Private nonresidential construction fell 0.8% month-over-month and total private construction spending was up 0.9%, compared with a revised May total of $625.6 billion.

In the private sector, single-family residential construction is 29.3% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction is up 39.3% from July 2012. Private, nonresidential construction is up 2% year-over-year and up 1.3% from June.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending is down 3.7% year-over-year, continuing a slide begun in September 2012. Spending on educational facilities fell 11.7% month-over-month and 1.5% from June 2013 spending. Public residential construction was down 3.1% month-over-month, and is 2.4% lower year-over-year.