Construction spending dropped 8 percent from a year earlier, although homebuilding and stimulus-funded public works increased, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC of America).
Among the results from the May 2009 to May 2010 period:
- Private nonresidential construction decreased 25 percent
- Public construction lowered 3 percent
- Private residential construction rose 11 percent
- Highway and street construction increased 5.6 percent
- Other transportation construction increased 13.8 percent
- Sewage and waste disposal up 5.1 percent
- Water supply increased 5 percent
- Conservation and development increased 23 percent.
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"Federal stimulus funds helped keep public construction afloat and buoyed single-family construction," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the AGC of America. He further asserts that Congress needs to provide long-term funding for transportation and water projects.
Simonson also noted that single-family home construction soared 31 percent, but new multi-family construction, such as condos and rental housing, decreased 57 percent. He hypothesizes that the first-time home buyer tax credit boosted demand for single-family and lessened demand for multi-family dwellings.
