Though the month-to-month data was flat, construction spending remained in positive territory in 2014.

Construction spending in June maintained its strong growth from 2013, according to the latest report from the Census Bureau.

Though overall construction spending was down 1.8 percent from May to June, finishing the month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $950.2 billion, it was 5.5 percent above June 2013’s estimate of $900.3 billion.

And more importantly, for the first six months of 2014, construction spending has totaled $445.1 billion, which is 7.8 percent above the $413.0 billion for the same period in 2013.

2014 – a Good Year for Construction Spending

More specific details from the Census Bureau’s report included:

• Private construction fell 1.0 percent from May to June to $685.5 billion, with residential construction following suit and falling a negligible 0.3 percent to $357 billion.
• Of course, the year-over-year stats are far more encouraging – residential construction is up 7.4 percent from 2013, and overall private construction is up 10 percent.
• As has been the case in recent months, public construction remained a drag, falling 4.0 percent from May to June.

Where is Construction Heading?

As Bill McBride has noted numerous times on his Calculated Risk blog, the overall projections for construction remain quite peachy. Residential construction, for instance, is up a whopping 48.6 percent since May 2009, when it bottomed out at $240.2 billion (see our graph below, which charts residential construction’s progress since 2009).

And above everything else, construction is still at relative lows, so we can expect further growth as time goes on; stay tuned for Monday, when we’ll report on specific construction numbers for our metro area.