Construction Growth Slows But Still Tops 2012

摘要

Construction growth is still struggling to get back to the pace set near the end of last year (see chart). In March, the seasonally adjusted rate for total construction put-in-place tracked by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was $856.7 billion, which was 1.7% below February's pace and well below last December's $893.6-billion annual pace. However, on a year-to-date basis, total construction put-in-place during the first three months of this year was $181.7 billion, which was 4.7% above the first quarter of last year. Most of this year's growth is tied to the private residential building market, which is up 17.3% above the first quarter of last year, with $59.6 billion in new work. The private non-residential building market is up just 3.3% during the same period, with $70.0 billion in new work, according to Commerce's data.