National – Construction spending inched up less than 0.1% in July from June but slipped from year-ago levels, as a weak single-family homebuilding market and declines in some private nonresidential segments masked gains in public and multifamily construction, according to a recent analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new federal spending data. Association officials said a new survey they released showed contractors remain eager to hire employees but are having difficulty finding qualified craft workers.
“Overall spending totals have been fluctuating for more than two years, with divergent patterns for residential, private nonresidential and public construction,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Although year-to-date construction spending in the first seven months of 2019 combined was less than in the same period last year, most nonresidential and multifamily contractors remain busy and optimistic about future work.”
Construction spending totaled $1.289 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, a gain of less than 0.1% from the June rate and a decrease of 2.7% from the July 2018 rate, according to estimates the U.S. Census Bureau. Year-to-date, spending declined by 2.1% from the January-July 2018 total.
Public construction spending increased 0.4% for the month and 5.6% year-to-date. Among the four largest public categories, spending in the first seven months of 2019 jumped 12% compared to the same period in 2018 for highway and street construction spending, was unchanged for educational construction and climbed 9.8% for transportation (airports, transit, rail and port) projects.
Private nonresidential spending declined 0.8% from June to July but the seven-month total was 0.6% higher than in January-July 2018. Major private nonresidential categories experienced mixed year-to-date results. The largest, power construction (comprising electric power generation, transmission and distribution, plus oil and gas fields and pipelines), climbed 8.3% year-to-date. Commercial (retail, warehouse and farm) construction tumbled 15.2%. Manufacturing construction posted a 4.7% gain. Private office construction spending rose 7.9%.
Private residential construction spending increased 0.6% for the month but slumped 8.5% year-to-date. Single-family homebuilding decreased 8.7% in the first seven months of the year, while spending on multifamily projects increased 6.6%. Spending on residential improvements plunged 12.7% year-to-date.
Association officials said the drop in construction spending in some nonresidential categories so far in 2019 may indicate some firms are turning down or delaying projects because they cannot find enough qualified workers.
