Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released their May read of construction spending again demonstrating the significant extent to which private residential construction is contracting particularly for single family structures which appears to have worsened significantly in recent months while non-residential spending continues to show weakness.With the tremendous weakening trend continuing, total residential construction spending fell 33.91% as compared to May 2008 and a whopping 64.48% from the peak set in March 2006.
Worse off though was private single family residential construction spending which declined 54.06% as compared to May 2008 and a truly grotesque 80.37% from the peak set in February 2006.
Non-residential construction spending, currently accounting for just under half of all private construction spending, posted another year-over-year decline (note: the Census Bureau recently revised the last few years of non-res data erasing many of the recent months YOY increases) of 3.25%.
The following charts (click for larger versions) show private residential construction spending, private residential single family construction spending and private non-residential construction spending broken out and plotted since 1993 along with the year-over-year and peak percent change to each since 1994 and 2000 – 2005.
