Steel Markets
February 7, 2014
Construction Expenditures in December 2013
Written by Peter Wright
Total construction expenditures in December were $70.278 billion, up by 4.8 percent from December 2012. Fourth quarter expenditures were up by 4.2 percent year over year (y/y) and 2013, as a whole, was up by 6.3 percent from 2012. Private construction continues to be the driver, up by 6.4 percent in Q4 y/y but state and locally financed work also achieved a small gain of 0.5 percent. Federally financed construction is not much of a factor in the big picture and it continues to decline sharply, down 13.3 percent in Q4 y/y (Table 1). Residential building construction is still growing rapidly although the pace is slowing. Non residential buildings have slipped back into contraction as measured both quarterly and annually y/y. Infrastructure expenditures expanded by 5.4 percent in Q4 y/y.
