by Calculated Risk on 3/01/2023 10:17:00 AM

From the Census Bureau reported that overall construction spending decreased:

Construction spending during January 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,825.7 billion, 0.1 percent below the revised December estimate of $1,827.5 billion. The January figure is 5.7 percent above the January 2022 estimate of $1,726.6 billion.
emphasis added

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

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,442.6 billion, virtually unchanged from the revised December estimate of $1,442.0 billion. ...

In January, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $383.1 billion, 0.6 percent below the revised December estimate of $385.5 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 9.4% 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 3.9%. Non-residential spending is up 19.1% year-over-year. Public spending is up 11.1% year-over-year.

This was below consensus expectations of a 0.2% increase in spending, however construction spending for the previous two months combined were revised up.