public construction spending slightly off in new census report

According to the most recent statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, public construction investment declined by 0.6 percent during the last month of 2018.

But even though that number was in the negative, the overall trend for the entire year of 2018 was on the upside with a 6.6 percent increase.

That increase stands in contrast to the close of 2017, which actually saw a 3.2 percent decline in public construction spending.

According to the Census Bureau report, highway and street construction was down by 0.9 percent in December 2018, but for the entire year saw a healthy 4.4 percent increase.

Educational construction projects, too, were down by 1.5 percent for the last month of 2018, with the trend for the entire year showing a 3.8 percent increase.

The third largest segment, transportation spending, which includes airport, passenger rail, and port projects, was off by 1.5 percent in December, but posted a gain of 15 percent for the entire year.

The report, Value of Construction Put in Place at a Glance, pegs the country’s overall construction value at $1.2 billion for December, down from November’s $1.3 billion.

Despite those numbers, notes the report, both public and private construction spending has been consistently on the increase side since early 2012, with the trend line for private construction spending doubling since 2012.

By Garry Boulard

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