October Construction Spending Hits 4-Year High

Washington, DC, Dec. 2, 2013 -- The Department of Commerce said that construction spending during October was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $908.4 billion, 0.8% above the September estimate of $901.2 billion.

That was the highest level in four years, due to increases in public projects.

The October figure is 5.3% above the October 2012 estimate of $863.1 billion.
 
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $625.7 billion, 0.5% below the September estimate of $629.0 billion.

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $326.9 billion in October, 0.6% below the September estimate of $328.7 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $298.9 billion in October, 0.5% below the September estimate of $300.2 billion.
 
In October, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $282.7 billion, 3.9% above the September estimate of $272.2 billion.

Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $64.0 billion, 8.5% above the September estimate of $59.0 billion.