New construction spending was off by 1.1% for the month of June, with both private and public projects seeing declines, according to a new report just issued by the Associated General Contractors of America.
Overall construction spending for the month came in at $1.7 trillion. That figure, while down from the previous month, was nevertheless still up by 8.3% from where things stood in June of 2021.
Residential spending posted a 1.6% decline from May to June of this year, while public construction spending was down for the second month in a row, by a marginal 0.5%.
Nonresidential construction, which in particular includes everything from electric, oil, and gas projects, took a 1.7% hit; while commercial construction, one of the growth segments of 2021, was off by 0.5%.
Education construction, too, posted a decline of 0.5%.
In a statement, Stephen Sandherr, ACG chief executive officer, maintained that a demand for construction still existed, but it was being offset by “rising materials prices and labor shortages.”
Continued Sandherr: “As firms stretch schedules and boost costs to cover rising materials prices, it is getting harder for public and private owners to proceed with some planned projects.”
Despite the overall spending decline, the number of people working in the construction industry was up in 248 out of a total 358 metro areas year over year.
By Garry Boulard
