Construction Spending Down 0.5%- U.S. Census

Washington, D.C. – After a corrected 0.1 percent gain in August and against market estimates of a 0.4 percent increase, construction investment in the United States fell by 0.5 percent in September 2021 from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of USD 1.574 trillion.

While private construction spending was down, 0.7% fall in public construction spending.

Manufacturing spending was down by 1.6%, electricity spending was down by 1.2%, health care was down by 1.2%, and lodging was down by 0.7%.

Bylt is analyzing this and building materials manufacturing data. Bylt is looking at different sources and the past few weeks of government data for a detailed report to follow.

Overview

The Value of Construction Put in Place Survey (VIP) provides monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. The United States Code, Title 13, authorizes this program. The survey covers construction work done each month on new structures or improvements to existing structures for private and public sectors. Data estimates include the cost of labor and materials, cost of architectural and engineering work, overhead costs, interest and taxes paid during construction, and contractor’s profits. Data collection and estimation activities begin on the first day after the reference month and continue for about three weeks. Reported data and estimates are for activity taking place during the previous calendar month. The survey has been conducted monthly since 1964.

Value of Construction Put in Place – Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate
(Millions of dollars. Details may not add to totals due to rounding.)
							Percent change Sep 2021 from –
Type of Construction:	Sep 2021p	Aug 2021r	Jul 2021r	Jun 2021	May 2021	Sep 2020	Aug 2021	Sep 2020
Total Construction	1,573,610	1,582,034	1,581,128	1,579,265	1,564,153	1,459,261	-0.5	7.8
Residential	782,459	785,852	785,032	789,827	771,911	657,608	-0.4	19.0
Nonresidential	791,151	796,182	796,096	789,438	792,242	801,652	-0.6	-1.3
Lodging	18,334	18,704	19,009	19,344	19,994	27,702	-2.0	-33.8
Office	81,809	81,606	81,426	81,143	80,860	84,535	0.2	-3.2
Commercial	90,666	90,595	90,921	89,225	88,453	82,216	0.1	10.3
Health care	48,143	48,992	49,839	48,336	47,944	47,199	-1.7	2.0
Educational	95,973	95,284	93,814	94,394	97,073	103,237	0.7	-7.0
Religious	2,893	2,905	2,971	2,950	3,141	3,292	-0.4	-12.1
Public safety	10,730	11,226	11,429	11,647	11,392	17,436	-4.4	-38.5
Amusement and recreation	24,589	24,593	24,558	24,669	25,188	26,852	0.0	-8.4
Transportation	56,142	56,480	56,129	56,720	56,382	59,933	-0.6	-6.3
Communication	21,560	21,636	21,608	21,756	21,680	22,670	-0.4	-4.9
Power	112,434	113,714	115,498	113,907	112,817	109,165	-1.1	3.0
Highway and street	100,195	100,922	98,830	95,341	98,367	93,504	-0.7	7.2
Sewage and waste disposal	28,457	28,348	28,012	28,055	27,399	26,714	0.4	6.5
Water supply	19,609	19,670	19,151	18,969	18,699	18,773	-0.3	4.5
Conservation and development	6,702	7,380	7,829	7,876	7,267	8,871	-9.2	-24.5
Manufacturing	72,916	74,126	75,073	75,106	75,587	69,554	-1.6	4.8
Total Private Construction1	1,229,915	1,236,089	1,239,336	1,240,715	1,223,061	1,107,051	-0.5	11.1
Residential	773,537	776,785	775,917	780,726	762,852	648,272	-0.4	19.3
Nonresidential	456,379	459,305	463,419	459,990	460,209	458,779	-0.6	-0.5
Lodging	17,911	18,039	18,263	18,612	19,189	26,661	-0.7	-32.8
Office	70,382	70,311	70,020	69,865	69,833	72,505	0.1	-2.9
Commercial	87,218	87,038	87,295	85,655	84,969	78,248	0.2	11.5
Health care	38,113	38,591	39,561	38,294	37,975	36,887	-1.2	3.3
Educational	15,229	15,236	15,136	14,692	14,770	17,330	0.0	-12.1
Religious	2,890	2,900	2,966	2,946	3,128	3,286	-0.3	-12.1
Amusement and recreation	11,580	11,601	11,667	11,339	11,535	12,550	-0.2	-7.7
Transportation	14,747	14,799	15,088	15,568	15,505	15,457	-0.4	-4.6
Communication	21,447	21,513	21,511	21,632	21,606	22,572	-0.3	-5.0
Power	102,678	103,910	105,605	105,160	104,844	102,642	-1.2	0.0
Manufacturing	72,416	73,601	74,583	74,571	75,275	69,146	-1.6	4.7
Total Public Construction2	343,695	345,945	341,792	338,550	341,092	352,210	-0.7	-2.4
Residential	8,923	9,068	9,115	9,101	9,060	9,336	-1.6	-4.4
Nonresidential	334,772	336,877	332,677	329,449	332,033	342,873	-0.6	-2.4
Office	11,427	11,296	11,406	11,278	11,027	12,030	1.2	-5.0
Commercial	3,448	3,558	3,627	3,570	3,483	3,968	-3.1	-13.1
Health care	10,030	10,400	10,278	10,041	9,969	10,312	-3.6	-2.7
Educational	80,743	80,049	78,678	79,701	82,304	85,908	0.9	-6.0
Public safety	10,589	11,069	11,279	11,500	11,305	17,313	-4.3	-38.8
Amusement and recreation	13,009	12,993	12,892	13,330	13,652	14,301	0.1	-9.0
Transportation	41,395	41,681	41,041	41,152	40,877	44,476	-0.7	-6.9
Power	9,756	9,804	9,893	8,747	7,973	6,523	-0.5	49.6
Highway and street	99,806	100,526	98,346	94,926	97,968	93,233	-0.7	7.1
Sewage and waste disposal	28,039	27,918	27,602	27,624	26,993	26,308	0.4	6.6
Water supply	18,871	19,014	18,562	18,394	18,054	18,154	-0.8	3.9
Conservation and development	6,621	7,252	7,738	7,791	7,224	8,793	-8.7	-24.7
p Preliminary r Revised
1Includes the following categories of private construction not shown separately:
public safety, highway and street, sewage and waste disposal, water supply, and conservation and development.
2Includes the following categories of public construction not shown separately:
lodging, religious, communication, and manufacturing.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Construction Spending, November 1, 2021