Educational building construction continued to increase
The U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau recently reported that construction put-in-place during February was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.047 trillion, which is 0.4% above the revised January estimate of $1.043 trillion and 10% above the February 2004 estimate of $952 billion.
Spending on private-sector construction was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $807 billion, public construction spending totaled $240 billion, and nonresidential construction spending topped out at $461 billion.
Contracts for office construction projects increased slightly in February, rising to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $45 billion, and spending for highway and street construction climbed 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $73 billion.
Spending for commercial construction projects dropped 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $65 billion, while spending for educational building construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $77 billion. Contracts for highway and street construction projects also jumped 2.7%.