Spending by all U.S. nonfarm businesses on new and used structures and equipment increased 17 percent, or nearly $201 billion, to a total of $1.362 trillion in 2007. This compares with an earlier cyclical peak of $1.161 trillion in 2000, according to a report today from the U.S. Census Bureau.

     These data come from the Census Bureau’s 2009 Capital Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns, 1999-2007 [PDF]. The report provides historical data from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) on spending for new and used structures and equipment by all U.S. nonfarm businesses with and without paid employees.

     The report begins with 1999, the first year the ACES data were collected under the North American Industry Classification System, and ends with 2007, the most recent reference year for ACES data, and traces the changing composition of capital expenditures for structures and equipment at the national and industry levels. Data at the sector level are available only for employer businesses.

     Other findings include:

• Investments in structures by all U.S. businesses increased to $529.3 billion in 2007, up 45.3 percent from $364.4 billion in 2000.
• Investments in equipment by all U.S. businesses increased to $832.3 billion in 2007, up 4.5 percent from $796.6 billion in 2000.
• In 2007, the top four industry sectors accounted for 48 percent of all structures and equipment spending by all U.S. employer businesses — manufacturing (15.4 percent), finance and insurance (13.5 percent), real estate and rental and leasing (9.6 percent), and mining (9.5 percent). In 2000, the top four industry sectors accounted for 55.2 percent of all structures and equipment spending by U.S. employer businesses — manufacturing (19.7 percent), information (14.7 percent), finance and insurance (12.3 percent), and real estate and rental and leasing (8.5 percent).

The estimates in this report are based on data from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES). The ACES estimates are based on a stratified random sample of about 46,000 companies with employees and about 15,000 companies without employees.

Data in the annual ACES reports are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling errors. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of response, nonreporting and coverage. More details concerning the ACES survey design, methodology and data limitations are included in the annual report, which is available online at <www.census.gov/econ/aces/>.

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