Census Bureau reports construction put-in-place sets 7th straight record in August

Another report says manufacturing is also on the rise

The Census Bureau recently reported that the value of construction-put-in-place in August rose to $1.015 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, which is up 0.8% from the revised July estimate of $1.007 trillion. In the first eight months of 2004, total construction jumped 9% ahead of the same period in 2003.

Private nonresidential construction grew 3.6%, and some of its components also saw increases, including health-care and lodging (+10%), office (+9%), and commercial at (+5%). However, some components decreased, including educational (-5%), power (-4%), and manufacturing (-2%). Public construction saw an increase of 4.5%, and among its components, there were year-to-date gains for highways and street (+8%), sewage and waste disposal (+9%), office (+6%), and educational (+3%). And finally, private residential increased by 14%.

The Institute for Supply Management also released a report stating that economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in September for the 16th straight month, and that 15 out of 20 manufacturing industries reported gains.