Total Construction Spending Doubles Forecast for November

Construction Spending for Single-Family Homes Continues to Gain

Total construction spending came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,324.1 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. That’s an increase of 0.6% (±1.0%) from the revised October estimate of $1,316.8 billion and 4.1% (±1.5%) higher than the November 2018 estimate of $1,271.4 billion.

Forecasts ranged from a low of 0.1% to a high of 1.0%. The consensus forecast was 0.3%.

Despite volatility in the report, a continued bright spot has been rising construction spending for single-family homes. Single-family home construction is up 1.2% from November.

Private Construction Spending

Spending on private construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $985.5 billion, 0.4% (±0.7%) higher than the revised October estimate of $981.1 billion.

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $536.1 billion in November, or a 1.9% (±1.3%) gain from the revised October estimate of $526.3 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $449.4 billion in November, or down 1.2% (±0.7%) from the revised October estimate of $454.7 billion.

Public Construction Spending

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was estimated at $338.6 billion, up 0.9% (±1.5%) from the revised October estimate of $335.7 billion.

Educational construction was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $83.9 billion, unchanged from (±1.5%) the revised October estimate of $84.0 billion. Highway construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $96.4 billion, up 2.2% (±3.9%) from the revised October estimate of $94.3 billion.