Construction Put In Place

For Release at 10:00 A.M. EDT, Monday, May 4, 2009 Michael Davis, Linnet Holland, or John Tremblay (301) 763-1605

CB09-68

MARCH 2009 CONSTRUCTION AT $969.7 BILLION ANNUAL RATE The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during March 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $969.7 billion, 0.3 percent (±1.3%)* above the revised February estimate of $967.1 billion. The March figure is 11.1 percent (±1.6%) below the March 2008 estimate of $1,090.5 billion. During the first 3 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $209.5 billion, 10.9 percent (±1.4%) below the $235.2 billion for the same period in 2008. PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $661.0 billion, 0.1 percent (±1.4%)* below the revised February estimate of $661.6 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $258.4 billion in March, 4.2 percent (±1.3%) below the revised February estimate of $269.6 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $402.6 billion in March, 2.7 percent (±1.4%) above the revised February estimate of $392.0 billion. PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION In March, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $308.7 billion, 1.1 percent (±1.9%)* above the revised February estimate of $305.4 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $89.2 billion, 1.6 percent (±3.0%)* above the revised February estimate of $87.8 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $76.2 billion, 0.8 percent (±7.2%)* below the revised February estimate of $76.8 billion. April 2009 data will be released on June 1, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. EDT. For more detailed data and methodologies, go to our website: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending EXPLANATORY NOTES In interpreting changes in the statistics in this release, note that month-to-month changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show movements which may be irregular. It may take 2 months to establish an underlying trend for total construction and as long as 8 months for specific categories of construction. The statistics in this release are estimated from several sources and surveys and are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimates of the standard errors are provided in Table 3. Whenever a statement such as "2.3 (±3.1) percent above" appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.8 to +5.4 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given are 90 percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. Statistics for the current month are preliminary estimates subject to revision in following months as additional data become available. The average absolute percent changes from preliminary estimate to first revision for the major seasonally adjusted components are as follows: total construction, 0.5 percent; private construction, 0.6 percent; and public construction, 0.7 percent.

In the May 2009 press release, normal revisions to the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted data will revise back to January 2007.

* 90% confidence interval includes zero. The U.S. Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

Table 1. Value of Construction Put in Place in the United States, Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (Millions of dollars. Details may not add to totals due to rounding.)

Type of Construction

Percent change Mar 2009 from Feb Mar 2009 2008

Mar p 2009

Feb r 2009

Jan r 2009

Dec 2008

Nov 2008

Mar 2008

Total Construction

969,722

967,060

977,249

1,012,017

1,044,551

1,090,471

0.3

-11.1

Residential

265,854

277,267

293,726

305,451

321,774

398,614

-4.1

-33.3

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development Manufacturing

703,867 32,699 66,959 71,768 47,350 107,942 6,179 13,317 21,221 33,297 18,668 76,592 76,263 25,620 16,024 5,522 84,447

689,793 31,078 66,982 70,463 46,809 106,272 6,788 13,207 21,283 32,919 18,355 70,308 76,868 24,841 15,915 5,641 82,065

683,523 30,612 65,137 71,296 45,695 104,498 6,915 13,243 20,071 32,837 20,063 71,688 79,060 24,663 16,253 4,828 76,666

706,566 33,751 68,059 74,813 48,283 102,990 7,246 13,970 21,245 33,885 22,347 77,855 79,429 26,183 17,546 5,954 73,012

722,777 37,132 72,062 77,703 48,433 105,973 7,406 14,362 21,529 35,436 21,413 77,127 84,168 26,416 17,438 5,410 70,771

691,856 34,458 71,259 90,222 45,583 102,456 6,951 11,838 23,226 35,073 28,093 66,503 78,136 25,504 15,905 5,134 51,518

2.0 5.2 0.0 1.9 1.2 1.6 -9.0 0.8 -0.3 1.1 1.7 8.9 -0.8 3.1 0.7 -2.1 2.9

1.7 -5.1 -6.0 -20.5 3.9 5.4 -11.1 12.5 -8.6 -5.1 -33.5 15.2 -2.4 0.5 0.7 7.6 63.9

Total Private Construction 1

660,997

661,636

675,741

705,303

727,986

789,629

-0.1

-16.3

Residential

258,396

269,637

286,397

298,356

314,127

391,643

-4.2

-34.0

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Manufacturing

402,601 32,626 50,600 67,991 37,979 18,750 6,179 9,741 9,860 18,637 64,782 83,938

391,999 30,985 50,396 66,970 37,663 18,503 6,781 9,715 9,877 18,322 59,647 81,563

389,344 30,504 49,113 68,152 36,947 18,626 6,909 9,060 9,720 19,994 62,491 76,187

406,947 33,485 52,021 71,558 39,278 18,575 7,246 9,434 9,817 22,253 69,041 72,565

413,859 36,931 56,297 74,545 39,755 19,019 7,382 9,775 10,275 21,304 66,357 70,359

397,986 33,720 57,316 86,942 36,585 18,829 6,932 11,370 10,130 27,824 54,812 51,051

2.7 5.3 0.4 1.5 0.8 1.3 -8.9 0.3 -0.2 1.7 8.6 2.9

1.2 -3.2 -11.7 -21.8 3.8 -0.4 -10.9 -14.3 -2.7 -33.0 18.2 64.4

Total Public Construction 2

308,725

305,424

301,508

306,715

316,565

300,842

1.1

2.6

7,458

7,631

7,329

7,096

7,647

6,972

-2.3

7.0

301,267 16,360 3,778 9,372 89,192 12,925 11,480 23,436 11,811 76,164 25,207 15,517 5,414

297,794 16,586 3,493 9,146 87,769 12,746 11,567 23,043 10,661 76,767 24,387 15,370 5,623

294,179 16,024 3,143 8,748 85,872 12,732 11,011 23,116 9,197 78,938 24,231 15,699 4,807

299,619 16,038 3,255 9,005 84,415 13,509 11,811 24,068 8,814 79,290 25,822 16,877 5,910

308,917 15,765 3,158 8,678 86,953 13,864 11,755 25,162 10,771 83,962 25,863 16,866 5,376

293,870 13,943 3,280 8,997 83,627 11,019 11,856 24,943 11,691 77,906 24,975 15,068 5,074

1.2 -1.4 8.2 2.5 1.6 1.4 -0.8 1.7 10.8 -0.8 3.4 1.0 -3.7

2.5 17.3 15.2 4.2 6.7 17.3 -3.2 -6.0 1.0 -2.2 0.9 3.0 6.7

Residential Nonresidential Office Commercial Health care Educational Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development p

Preliminary

r

Revised

1

Includes the following categories of private construction not shown separately: public safety, highway and street, sewage and waste disposal, water supply, and conservation and development.

2

Includes the following categories of public construction not shown separately: lodging, religious, communication, and manufacturing.

Table 2. Value of Construction Put in Place in the United States, Not Seasonally Adjusted (Millions of dollars. Details may not add to totals due to rounding.)

Type of Construction

Year-to-date Mar Mar 2009 2008

Mar 2009p

Feb r 2009

Jan r 2009

Dec 2008

Nov 2008

Mar 2008

Percent change

Total Construction

74,142

67,321

67,996

78,083

86,771

83,204

209,459

235,210

-10.9

Residential

20,542

18,349

19,297

22,442

26,296

30,654

58,189

85,088

-31.6

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development Manufacturing

53,600 2,725 5,391 5,519 3,800 7,865 480 1,017 1,674 2,460 1,559 6,266 4,389 1,878 1,253 422 6,904

48,972 2,590 5,085 5,100 3,582 7,253 510 960 1,546 2,307 1,317 5,389 3,767 1,713 1,169 395 6,291

48,699 2,551 4,898 5,093 3,580 7,272 521 1,002 1,439 2,313 1,380 5,576 3,836 1,727 1,158 374 5,979

55,641 2,813 5,371 5,810 3,977 7,641 582 1,169 1,686 2,718 2,206 6,446 5,053 2,049 1,341 527 6,254

60,475 3,094 6,006 6,550 4,191 8,445 655 1,226 1,790 3,113 1,739 6,432 6,921 2,327 1,468 463 6,056

52,550 2,872 5,735 6,978 3,677 7,472 545 905 1,817 2,576 2,251 5,428 4,608 1,883 1,260 396 4,148

151,270 7,866 15,374 15,712 10,962 22,390 1,511 2,978 4,660 7,079 4,255 17,231 11,992 5,318 3,580 1,190 19,174

150,121 8,362 16,791 20,261 10,648 21,377 1,619 2,662 5,245 7,332 6,310 15,471 12,370 5,419 3,425 1,218 11,612

0.8 -5.9 -8.4 -22.5 2.9 4.7 -6.7 11.9 -11.2 -3.5 -32.6 11.4 -3.1 -1.9 4.5 -2.3 65.1

Total Private Construction 1

52,374

47,548

48,470

55,458

60,613

62,036

148,391

175,560

-15.5

Residential

19,968

17,791

18,774

21,863

25,681

30,122

56,532

83,514

-32.3

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Manufacturing

32,406 2,719 4,092 5,226 3,014 1,440 480 801 737 1,556 5,365 6,862

29,757 2,582 3,868 4,848 2,864 1,338 509 759 696 1,315 4,619 6,249

29,696 2,542 3,721 4,862 2,899 1,368 521 700 729 1,374 4,925 5,939

33,595 2,790 4,110 5,540 3,230 1,420 582 766 805 2,199 5,810 6,217

34,932 3,078 4,733 6,285 3,453 1,530 653 802 899 1,730 5,595 6,021

31,914 2,810 4,641 6,718 2,945 1,457 543 941 763 2,229 4,567 4,109

91,859 7,843 11,680 14,936 8,777 4,146 1,509 2,259 2,163 4,244 14,909 19,050

92,045 8,150 13,736 19,498 8,543 4,205 1,612 2,780 2,213 6,273 12,953 11,482

-0.2 -3.8 -15.0 -23.4 2.7 -1.4 -6.4 -18.7 -2.3 -32.3 15.1 65.9

Total Public Construction 2

21,769

19,773

19,526

22,625

26,158

21,168

61,068

59,650

2.4

Residential Nonresidential Office Commercial Health care Educational Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development p

Preliminary

r

575

558

524

579

616

532

1,657

1,574

5.3

21,194 1,299 293 786 6,425 987 874 1,722 902 4,383 1,848 1,212 413

19,215 1,217 252 718 5,915 927 788 1,611 769 3,760 1,682 1,129 393

19,003 1,178 231 681 5,904 966 739 1,584 651 3,827 1,696 1,120 372

22,046 1,260 269 747 6,221 1,136 920 1,913 637 5,043 2,019 1,291 523

25,542 1,273 265 739 6,916 1,185 988 2,214 837 6,901 2,278 1,425 460

20,636 1,095 260 732 6,015 841 876 1,813 860 4,594 1,843 1,192 391

59,412 3,694 775 2,185 18,245 2,880 2,400 4,917 2,322 11,970 5,225 3,461 1,178

58,076 3,056 763 2,106 17,172 2,456 2,466 5,118 2,518 12,289 5,313 3,232 1,200

2.3 20.9 1.6 3.8 6.2 17.3 -2.7 -3.9 -7.8 -2.6 -1.7 7.1 -1.8

Revised

1

Includes the following categories of private construction not shown separately: public safety, highway and street, sewage and waste disposal, water supply, and conservation and development.

2

Includes the following categories of public construction not shown separately: lodging, religious, communication, and manufacturing.

Table 3. Coefficients of Variation and Standard Errors by Type of Construction (Percent)

Coefficient of variation

Standard error

Type of Construction

Total Construction

Monthly estimate

Year-to-date estimate

Year-to-date change

Month-to-month change

Month-to-month change from prev. year

0.9

0.7

0.9

0.8

1.0

Residential

3.0

2.9

5.3

2.7

5.8

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development Manufacturing

0.9 1.8 2.5 3.0 1.9 2.1 5.0 3.2 3.3 2.5 NA 1.2 3.5 3.7 3.8 4.1 1.4

0.7 1.7 2.4 2.7 1.7 1.9 5.7 2.5 3.8 2.1 NA 1.1 2.5 2.7 3.2 2.2 1.0

0.9 2.1 2.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 5.8 3.8 4.2 3.1 NA 1.5 3.4 3.9 4.2 6.0 1.9

0.8 1.6 1.9 2.4 1.2 1.6 5.9 2.3 2.6 2.2 NA 0.9 4.5 3.6 4.4 3.2 0.5

1.0 2.3 3.2 2.4 2.6 2.5 5.5 3.8 4.9 2.5 NA 1.7 4.4 4.4 5.4 8.5 2.2

Total Private Construction

1.0

0.9

1.1

0.9

1.2

Residential

5.0

1.1

1.4

0.8

1.4

Nonresidential Lodging Office Commercial Health care Educational Religious Amusement and recreation Transportation Communication Power Manufacturing

1.0 1.8 3.1 3.1 2.3 3.6 4.9 4.5 7.9 NA 1.0 1.4

0.9 1.7 3.2 2.8 2.1 3.5 5.7 6.7 10.9 NA 1.1 1.0

1.1 2.1 3.0 2.3 2.7 4.1 5.8 6.1 7.8 NA 1.1 1.9

0.9 1.6 2.5 2.5 1.4 2.1 5.9 3.8 12.7 NA 0.7 0.5

1.2 2.4 3.3 2.5 3.0 4.2 5.6 7.5 5.9 NA 0.7 2.2

Total Public Construction

1.3

1.0

1.5

1.2

1.6

Residential

3.0

2.9

5.3

2.7

5.8

Nonresidential Office Commercial Health care Educational Public safety Amusement and recreation Transportation Power Highway and street Sewage and waste disposal Water supply Conservation and development

1.3 2.9 6.1 2.9 2.4 3.3 4.6 2.7 7.0 3.5 3.7 4.0 4.1

1.0 1.8 5.3 2.4 2.1 2.5 4.1 2.1 5.7 2.5 2.7 3.3 2.1

1.5 7.7 6.6 4.0 3.0 4.1 5.9 3.4 13.2 3.4 3.9 4.4 6.0

1.3 2.0 8.3 1.9 1.9 2.3 3.6 2.0 5.6 4.5 3.7 4.5 2.8

1.7 7.5 9.7 4.4 2.9 4.2 6.2 2.7 19.3 4.4 4.5 5.7 8.4

NA Not applicable