Construction spending increased 1% in December to $1.49 trillion, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. Construction spending increased 5.7% compared with December 2019.
The increase was mainly due to residential construction spending, which increased 3.1% during the month and 20.7% year-over-year. It’s the seventh consecutive month of growth for private residential construction spending.
Private nonresidential construction, however, declined 1.7% during the month and fell 9.8% year-over-year.
“Private nonresidential construction has declined for six months in a row, and the slide is accelerating,” stated Ken Simonson, the Associated General Contractors of America’s chief economist. “While some categories of public construction have held up so far, state and local budget problems are likely to drive a downturn in public project starts in the next few months.”
The full construction spending report can be found here.
