April Construction Spending Shows Suprising Increase
Housing, non-residential construction and government spending drove April's construction spending numbers to the highest level since November 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Commerce Data. The 2.2 percent increase was a significant jump over the 0.7% projected by economists polled by MarketWatch.
The National Association of Home Builders, in their Eye On Housing post, says on a year-over-year basis, the pace of single-family construction spending was up more than 9% from April 2014, while multifamily spending was almost 25% higher. NAHB expects gains for multifamily to slow in 2015, while single-family construction increases.
Associated Builders and Contractors noted that Census Bureau data on construction spending did not just offer good news about April; it also supplied upwardly revised spending data for both February and March. Nonresidential spending expanded 3.2 percent on a monthly basis in April and spending totaled $646.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the government’s initial estimate. Nonresidential construction is up by a solid 8.8 percent over the past year, consistent with ABC’s forecast of high single-digit growth.
Here's the information from the Department of Commerce:
Construction spending during April 2015 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,006.1 billion, 2.2 percent (±1.5%) above the revised March estimate of $984.0 billion.
The April figure is 4.8 percent (±2.0%) above the April 2014 estimate of $960.3 billion. During the first 4 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $288.7 billion, 4.1 percent (±1.5%) above the $277.3 billion for the same period in 2014.
PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $725.2 billion, 1.8 percent (±1.2%) above the revised March estimate of $712.1 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $353.1 billion in April, 0.6 percent (±1.3%)* above the revised March estimate of $351.1 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $372.1 billion in April, 3.1 percent (±1.2%) above the revised March estimate of $361.0 billion.
PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION In April, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $280.9 billion, 3.3 percent (±2.8%) above the revised March estimate of $271.9 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $63.3 billion, 3.6 percent (±4.3%)* above the revised March estimate of $61.2 billion.
Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $87.1 billion, 8.5 percent (±9.0%)* above the revised March estimate of $80.3 billion.
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