A decline in nonresidential brought down total U.S. construction spending in July.
Total spending dipped 0.6 percent from June to $1.2 trillion but remains up 1.8 percent over the July 2016 total.
Total nonresidential spending dropped 1.7 percent in July to $688 billion but is down 4.3 percent from the year-ago total. Top percentage declines were commercial, down 4.6 percent to $82 billion; educational and religious, both down 4.3 percent to $85 billion and $3 billion, respectively; and water supply, down 3.1 percent to $11 billion. The only nonresidential percentage increases were public safety, up 5.4 percent to $8 billion, and power, up 0.5 percent to $100 billion.
Private residential spending rose 0.8 percent in July to $517 billion and is now 11.6 percent higher than the July 2017 total. Spending on single-family homes rose 0.8 percent to $264 billion, while multi-family spending fell 0.8 percent to $61 billion.
Total construction spending from the private sector fell 0.4 percent to $945 billion but remains up 4,1 percent over July 2016. Government spending fell 1.4 percent during July to $260 billion and is down 5.6 percent from its year-ago figure.
