Infrastructure

Construction spending climbs in October

Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh

December 5, 2024

Construction spending continued to inch up during October and climb higher from last year.

The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,174.0 billion in October, a slight uptick of ~0.4% over the September estimate. The October figure is about 5% above a year ago.

During the first 10 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,814.8 billion, a 7.2% increase year over year, according to census data.

Private builds

Overall, private construction outlays clocked in at $1,676.4 billion, about 0.7% above the revised September estimate, according to Census data. Residential construction rose about 1.5% month over month (m/m) to reach $934.0 billion. But nonresidential construction fell, losing 0.3% to a rate of $742.3 billion in October.

Public projects

In total, public construction spending dropped slightly by 0.5% to $497.6 billion. Educational construction contributed to that lag, slipping 0.4% to $105.3 billion in October. Highway construction also pulled those figures down, dropping 0.7% m/m to $141.1 billion.

The chart below shows a rise in spending over recent years, particularly in nonresidential investment.

Stephanie Ritenbaugh

Stephanie Ritenbaugh is a reporter for Steel Market Update. She is an experienced business journalist, holding a variety of positions for trade publications and newspapers, including covering shale development for Gas Business Briefing/Platts and for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She can be reached at stephanie.ritenbaugh@crugroup.com or +1 724-759-7868

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