by Calculated Risk on 4/01/2008 10:00:00 AM

Spending declined in February for both residential and non-residential private construction. This is additional evidence that the non-residential slowdown is here.

From the Census Bureau: February 2008 Construction Spending at $1,121.6 Billion Annual Rate

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $826.6 billion, 0.5 percent below the revised January estimate of $831.2 billion.

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $456.9 billion in February, 0.9 percent below the revised January estimate of $461.1 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $369.7 billion in February, 0.1 percent below the revised January estimate of $370.1 billion.

Click on graph for larger image.

The graph shows private residential and nonresidential construction spending since 1993.

Over the last couple of years, as residential spending has declined, nonresidential has been very strong. This is additional evidence - along with the Fed's Loan Officer Survey and other data - that suggests the slowdown in nonresidential spending is here.



The second graph shows the year-over-year change in residential and non-residential private construction spending.

From a year-over-year perspective, residential is off 19% and non-residential is still up 13%. However non-residential spending has now declined for three straight months, and will probably show a year-over-year decline by mid-summer.