Public construction is starting to feel the impact of the battle over the federal budget deficit and the weak financial position of many state and local governments. In April, public construction was running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $282 billion, which was 7.5% below April 2010's pace. It also marked the fourth consecutive month the seasonally adjusted annual rate has declined, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (see chart).
On a year-to-date basis, total public construction through the first four months of this year was $79.2 billion, which was 4.2% below the same period of 2010 (see table). The public sector is being pulled down by its two largest markets: Public school construction through April was down 9.0% from the first four months of last year; during the same period, highway work was down 0.9%, while work for other transportation markets declined 8.0%. Last year, these markets accounted for 62% of all public construction.