by Calculated Risk on 4/03/2023 10:21:00 AM

From the Census Bureau reported that overall construction spending decreased:

Construction spending during February 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,844.1 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised January estimate of $1,845.4 billion. The February figure is 5.2 percent above the February 2022 estimate of $1,753.1 billion.
emphasis added

Private spending was "virtually unchanged" and public spending decreased:

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,453.2 billion, virtually unchanged from the revised January estimate of $1,453.6 billion. ...

In February, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $391.0 billion, 0.2 percent below the revised January estimate of $391.8 billion.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows private residential and nonresidential construction spending, and public spending, since 1993. Note: nominal dollars, not inflation adjusted.

Residential (red) spending is 9.8% below the recent peak.

Non-residential (blue) spending is at a new peak.

Public construction spending is close to the recent peak.

The second graph shows the year-over-year change in construction spending.

On a year-over-year basis, private residential construction spending is down 5.7%. Non-residential spending is up 19.4% year-over-year. Public spending is up 12.8% year-over-year.

This was at consensus expectations of a 0.1% decrease in spending; however, construction spending for the previous two months was revised up.