Value of New Construction Running -2.2% YOY for First Nine Months of 2019

Construction spending during Sept. 2019 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,293.6 billion (seasonally adjusted), +0.5% above the revised August estimate of $1,287.1 billion. The September figure is -2% below the Sept. 2018 estimate of $1,319.7 billion. During the first nine months of this year, construction spending amounted to $968.7 billion (not seasonally adjusted), -2.2% below the $990.2 billion for the same period in 2018.
Private construction. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $961.7 billion, +0.2% above the revised August estimate of $959.9 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $511.4 billion in September, +0.6% above the revised August estimate of $508.4 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $450.3 billion in September, -0.3% below the revised August estimate of $451.4 billion.
Private commercial construction (-18.6% to $82 billion) and manufacturing (down -4% to$72.5 billion) were two of the larger construction categories showing the biggest YOY percentage declines
Public construction. In September, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $331.9 billion, +1.5% above the revised August estimate of $327.2 billion.
Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $78.9 billion, +3.1% above the revised August estimate of $76.5 billion, but down -0.1% from Sept. 2018. At $8.1 billion, public health care construction had a rather large -4.1% YOY decline.