May 2013 Construction Spending Climbs 0.5%

A report released Monday by the ""Census Bureau"":http://www.census.gov/ revealed an estimated annual rate of $874.9 billion (seasonally adjusted) for construction spending in the month of May 2013.

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This statistic shows May's spending was up 0.5 percent from the revised April estimate of $870.3 billion as well as 5.4 percent higher than the $830.4 billion representing the May 2012 estimate.

The data also shows a significant 6.2 percent increase in construction spending during the first five months of 2013 ($326.2 billion) versus the $307 billion spent during the same five-month period the previous year.

Regarding the private sector, seasonally adjusted construction spending in May 2013 showed an annual rate of $605.4 billion, nearly identical to the estimate in April at $605.7 billion.

Private residential construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted rate of $322.3 billion, 1.2 percent higher than the $318.5 billion revised April estimate. Unlike the increasing residential spending, the month's nonresidential construction spending showed an annual rate of $238.1 billion, down 1.4 percent from the revised April estimate of $287.1 billion.

Pertaining to public construction, the figures show May's seasonally adjusted annual rate of construction spending to be $269.5 billion, 1.8 percent above the April estimate of $264.7 billion.