Construction spending remarkably stable in June

Nonresidential spending up 0.4% from June 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau releases construction put-in-place estimates (the $ value of construction work done in the U.S.) on the first business day of each month. Today is that day, and nonresidential construction spending totaled $813 billion in June (seasonally adjusted, annualized basis). That’s down 0.2% from May and down 3.3% from the all-time high registered in March BUT up 0.4% percent on a year-ago basis. 

You can find more detailed insight from me over at Associated Builders and Contractors.

Three key takeaways:

1. Nonresidential construction has thus far been a bulwark of (relative) economic stability during the pandemic. That will likely change over the next year.

2. Commercial real estate will be one of the last segments of the economy to fully recover.

3. Public nonresidential construction is up on a year-ago basis, private construction is down.

Up Next

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases nonfarm payroll data for July on Friday, and the consensus forecast is that U.S. payrolls will increase by roughly 1.6m jobs.