According to data released Tuesday by the US Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, construction spending during September was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $787.2 billion, 0.2 percent above the revised August estimate of $786.0 billion for the whole year. However, the September figure was 1.3 percent below the construction spending estimate of $797.3 billion in September 2010. During the first nine months of this year, construction spending in the US amounted to $580.9 billion, 3.5 percent below the $602.0 billion recorded for the same period in 2010.
Private construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $501.8 billion or 0.6 percent higher than the revised August estimate, as residential spending rose 0.9 percent compared to the revised August estimate and nonresidential spending increased 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $273.5 billion in September. The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $285.4 billion, 0.6 percent below the revised August estimate of $287.0 billion.