Construction Spending Tops Annualized $1.5T in January
U.S. construction spending in January reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.521 trillion, the highest monthly tally since the Census Bureau began keeping track in 2002. Driven by single-family homebuilding, the January figure is 5.8 % above the year-ago period.
January also posted a month-over-month increase of 1.7%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a monthly increase of 0.8%.
Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $713 billion in January, 2.5% above the revised December estimate of $695.7 billion. Nonresidential construction was an annualized $447 billion in January, 0.4% above December.
Public construction spending was an annualized $361.5 billion, 1.7% above the December estimate. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $89.9 billion, down 0.1% below the revised December estimate of $90 billion.
Highway construction spending was an annualized $107.8 billion, 5.8% above the revised December estimate of $101.9 billion.
