U.S. construction spending during October was estimated at a seasonally adjusted rate of $2.027 trillion, up 0.6% from September and up 10.7% year-over-year, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly construction spending report issued Dec. 1.

Through the first 10 months of 2023, construction spending totaled $1.646 trillion, up 5.6% from 2022.

September’s spending figure was revised up to $2.015 trillion from an initial $1.996 trillion estimate.

October spending on private construction totaled $1.579 trillion, up 0.7% from September, with residential construction up 1.2% and nonresidential up 0.1%.

October spending on public construction totaled $448 billion, up 0.2% from September. Education construction increased 0.4% and highway construction was down 0.3%.

An analysis of the nonresidential construction figures by the Associated Builders and Contractors association found that spending was up on a monthly basis in eight of the 16 nonres subcategories. Private nonres spending increased 0.1% in October, while public nonres was up 0.2%.

“Nonresidential construction spending increased for the 17th consecutive month in October and is now up an even 20% over the past year,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in a news release. “As has been the case, more than 45% of that year-over-year increase is due to surging construction activity in the manufacturing sector, though infrastructure-related categories like highway and street and sewage and waste disposal have also outperformed.”

Basu added that spending in the commercial category, which includes the construction of distribution and warehouse space, fell sharply in October, likely due to a severe slowdown in the freight industry and slowing warehouse-related construction, rather than a sudden decline in retail-related construction.

“Despite weakness in the commercial category and other headwinds like high interest rates and labor shortages, contractors remain optimistic about their sales over the next six months,” Basu noted.