National nonresidential construction spending was down by 0.6% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $832.5 billion for the month.
Spending was down on a monthly basis in 10 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending was down 0.4%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 0.8% in May. Nonresidential construction spending is up 1% over the past year, though spending is down in 10 of 16 categories over that span. The best performer is manufacturing, a segment in which construction spending is up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis.