Construction Spending Up Only Slightly in July But Climbs Over 6% Year to Date

Total construction spending saw a 6.2% increase during the first seven months of 2021 vs. the same period in 2020 and is 9% higher year over year.

Construction Spending Annual
U.S. Census Bureau, September 1, 2021

The U.S. Census Bureau reports total construction spending edged up slightly (+0.3%) for July 2021 to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,568.8 billion, compared to June’s revised estimate of $1,563.4 billion. Longer term gains were more pronounced. Total spending saw a 6.2% increase during the first seven months of 2021 (to $883.2 billion) vs. the same period in 2020 and is 9% higher on a year-over-year basis.

Private construction spending, which makes up the bulk of the spending total, edged up just 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,231.0 billion vs. June’s $1,227.8 billion. However, it retained a double-digit increase (+13.6%) over June 2020.

Construction Spending MonthlyResidential construction inched up just 0.5% to $773.0 billion in July over the revised June estimate of $768.9 billion, yet is a healthy 27% above the same month in 2020. Single-family construction rose 0.9% for the month and a hearty 47.1% year over year, while new multifamily construction was flat in July 2021, but up 14.9% compared to the same month last year.

Nonresidential construction fell 0.2% in July 2021 to $458.0 billion and is down 3.6% from July 2020. Not surprisingly, the segments hardest hit on a year-over-year basis were office (-29.8%), educational (-19.6%) and amusement and recreation (-11.6%), all of which have struggled most to recover from the pandemic's impacts.

Public construction spending for July rose a modest 0.7% to $337.8 billion over June’s revised estimate of $335.6 billion, but is down 5.1% year over year. Its largest segments saw mixed results.

  • Educational construction came in at $79.7 billion, 0.5% below June at $80.1 billion, and a 6.4% decline from July 2020.
  • Highway construction rose 1.9% to $94.5 billion vs. June’s estimate of $92.7 billion, and remains largely flat (-0.1%) year over year.
  • The transportation segment reached $41.3 billion for the month, a 0.3% increase, but is down 4.2% for the year.

Find full report details at www.census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/release.pdf.

Information provided by U.S. Census Bureau and edited by Becky Schultz.

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