ABC: Nonresidential Construction Spending Falls Sharply in January

National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.4% in January, 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 $1.190 trillion.

Spending was down on a monthly basis in 10 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending fell 0.1%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 1.0% in January. Healthcare construction decreased slightly from December to January, spending overall in this sector is up 13% from last January.

“Despite January’s disappointing data, nonresidential construction spending is still up more than 17% over the past year,” said Basu. “Given that year-over-year strength and the fact that a majority of contractors expect their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, spending is likely to rebound over the coming months.”

Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings and the Producer Price Index.