The U.S. Census Bureau reports construction spending for July 2011 was down 1.3% at an annual rate of $789.5 billion compared to June’s levels. However, July’s rate was very slightly above (0.1%) last year’s rate for July.

From the beginning of 2011, construction spending is 3.5% below last year’s first seven months at $435.5 billion. Although this makes sense as all levels of government have pulled back on public sector spending.

Public construction spending was $275.0 billion, 2.1% below June levels and 8.8% below July 2010 levels. Educational construction showed a steep decline with 4.3% loss from June, while highway construction increased a slight 0.5% percent. Commercial construction increased 5.4% from June 2011, and transportation decreased 2.2%.

Private construction spending fell 0.9% to an annual rate of $514.5 billion compared to June’s estimate of $519.0 billion. Residential construction fell 1.4% along with nonresidential construction at 0.4% below June levels. However compared to last July, residential construction was up 5.3% while nonresidential construction was up 5.7%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau