Residential Construction Up in August

Sales of new single-family houses in August 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday morning that construction spending in August increased by 0.7% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.086 trillion from the upwardly revised estimate of $1.079 trillion in July.

Construction spending has increased for nine straight months, although the government said July’s growth was less sharp than initially estimated.

The increase in total construction spending was partly due to a jump in spending on residential construction, which surged up by 1.3 percent to a rate of $383.3 billion. During the first eight months of this year, construction spending amounted to $683.4 billion, 9.8 percent above the $622.4 billion for the same period in 2014.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.6% in construction spending for August.

Private nonresidential construction also advanced, but by a more modest 0.2 per cent. Two key areas – office building and the category that covers shopping centres – both declined. Spending on private non-residential construction projects rose 0.2 per cent, hitting its highest level since November 2008.