Steel Markets
September 5, 2019
Construction Spending Stalls in July
Written by Sandy Williams
Construction spending was essentially flat in July, inching up less than 0.1 percent from June, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Spending slid 2.7 percent from a year ago to a total seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.289 trillion. Year-to-date, spending declined by 2.1 percent from the January-July 2018 total. AGC noted “a weak single-family homebuilding market and declines in some private nonresidential segments masked gains in public and multifamily construction.”
“Overall spending totals have been fluctuating for more than two years, with divergent patterns for residential, private nonresidential and public construction,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Although year-to-date construction spending in the first seven months of 2019 combined was less than in the same period last year, most nonresidential and multifamily contractors remain busy and optimistic about future work.”
