Chicago Construction News staff writer
Construction spending for August reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,131.9 billion, a decrease of 0.1 percent from July’s revised estimate of $2,133.9 billion, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. However, year-over-year, August 2024 spending increased 4.1 percent over August 2023.
For the first eight months of 2024, total construction spending topped $1.4 billion, a 7.6 percent increase from the same period in 2023, which saw $1,327 billion.
Private construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,642.2 billion in August, a decrease of 0.2 percent from July’s revised rate of $1,645.8 billion.
Within this sector, residential construction was estimated at $899.9 billion, down 0.3 percent from July’s $903 billion. Nonresidential construction also saw a slight decline, with spending at $742.2 billion, 0.1 percent lower than July’s $742.8 billion.
In public construction, spending increased to an estimated annual rate of $489.8 billion, up 0.3 percent from July’s revised figure of $488.2 billion. Educational construction remained virtually unchanged at $102.4 billion, while highway construction experienced a 1.1 percent increase, reaching a rate of $141.4 billion compared to July’s $140 billion.
