From RealTrends.com: Construction spending rose 0.8 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted rate of $941.9 billion, above the revised July estimate of $934 billion. The August figure is 11.6 percent lower than a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. During the first eight months of the year, construction spending was about $629 billion – 11.9 percent lower than the $714.3 billion from the same period a year ago. Spending on private construction was $622.1 billion, or 1.8 percent higher than the revised July estimate of $611.1 billion. Single-family home construction rose 4.5 percent, while multifamily home construction fell by the same amount.”The key is the turnaround in single-family construction, which in June increased for the first time in 40 months, and has made solid gains since,” said Patrick Newport, a U.S. economist with IHS Global Insight. “The estimate for this category is based on a weighted average of single-family housing starts, which have been improving steadily since January. So, going forward, single-family construction will continue to grow.”
Source: Washington Business Journal