March construction spending held up before COVID-19 kicked in

Total U.S. construction spending rose 0.9 percent for month. Any guesses for the numbers going forward?

The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following value put in place construction statistics for March 2020:

Total Construction

Construction spending during March 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,360.5 billion, 0.9 percent (±0.8 percent) above the revised February estimate of $1,348.4 billion.

The March figure is 4.7 percent (±1.3 percent) above the March 2019 estimate of $1,299.1 billion.

During the first three months of this year, construction spending amounted to $297.0 billion, 6.7 percent (±1.2 percent) above the $278.5 billion for the same period in 2019.

Private Construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,012.5 billion, 0.7 percent (±0.7 percent)* above the revised February estimate of $1,005.8 billion.

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $550.3 billion in March, 2.3 percent (±1.3 percent) above the revised February estimate of $537.7 billion.

Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $462.3 billion in March, 1.3 percent (±0.7 percent) below the revised February estimate of $468.2 billion.

Public Construction

In March, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $348.0 billion, 1.6 percent (±1.3 percent) above the revised February estimate of $342.6 billion.

Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $80.9 billion, 0.3 percent (±1.5 percent)* below the revised February estimate of $81.1 billion.

Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $108.3 billion, 4.6 percent (±4.8 percent)* above the revised February estimate of $103.5 billion.

The $64,000 question is how far construction will decline — and for how long — before trends begin to "normalize" again.

Statement Regarding COVID-19 Impact: Due to recent events surrounding COVID-19, many governments and businesses are operating on a limited capacity or have ceased operations completely. The Census Bureau has monitored response and data quality and determined estimates in this release meet publication standards. For more information on the compilation of this month's report, see these COVID-19 FAQs.