On Monday December 3, 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau released monthly U.S. construction spending statistics for October 2018. Per the newest monthly report, public construction spending as of October 2018 is 0.8% higher than forecasted in September 2018, while private sector spending is 0.4% lower than previously forecasted. This year, public construction spending is 8.5% higher than in 2017, while private construction spending is 3.9% higher than in 2017. Keep in mind that these relative spending increases do not account for inflation, which is officially at 2.5% as of October 31, 2018, but is likely even higher for the construction industry.
2018 construction spending is projected at $1.308 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, consisting of $310 billion in public construction and $998 billion in private construction. The leading areas of public construction by absolute value of construction put in place are educational, highway, transportation and water/sewage construction. The greatest percentage gains year over year in public construction have been in commercial building, water supply, and amusement and recreation spending. Private, non-residential construction shows more year over year growth than private residential construction, however private residential construction remains slightly more than half of all private construction. In non-residential, private construction, the largest segments of the market are power, commercial, manufacturing and office construction. Lodging, office, power, educational, transportation and amusement spending are showing the strongest year over year growth for private sector construction.
If you are looking to take on public construction work or bonded private work, we can help you get the bonding program you need to support your business and provide options in changing economic times. Please give us a call today! For more information on the construction statistics discussed in this post, please see the official release from the U.S. Census Bureau.
