General highlights

In 2010, U.S. nonfarm businesses invested $1,105.7 billion in new and used structures and equipment, not statistically different from the revised 2009 total of $1,090.7 billion.^1,2 (See Summary Table A below, and Tables 1a and 1b) Total spending on new structures and new equipment was $1,033.7 billion.

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Expenditures in 2010 for new and used structures totaled $428.7 billion, a decrease of $20.8 billion (4.6 percent) from 2009. (See Figure 1) Of this amount, $394.5 billion (92.0 percent) was spent for new structures, down $28.3 billion (6.7 percent) from 2009. Expenditures for used structures totaled $34.2 billion, an increase of $7.4 billion (27.8 percent) from 2009.

Spending on new and used equipment totaled $677.0 billion in 2010, up $35.8 billion (5.6 percent) from 2009. Of this amount, $639.2 billion (94.4 percent) was for new equipment, an increase of $32.6 billion (5.4 percent) from 2009. Expenditures for used equipment totaled $37.8 billion, not statistically different from 2009.

The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey collects data from companies with and without employees. Companies with employees accounted for $1,036.2 billion (93.7 percent) of total capital spending in 2010. These companies invested $395.5 billion in structures, a decrease of $18.5 billion (4.5 percent) from 2009, and $640.6 billion in equipment, up $39.4 billion (6.5 percent) from 2009. (See Figure 2)

Companies without employees accounted for $69.5 billion of capital spending in 2010, with $33.2 billion spent on structures and $36.4 billion spent on equipment.(See Summary Table B below.)

Highlights by business sector for companies with employees

(See Tables 2, 3, and 4)

(Data in this section are based on the 2007 North American Industry Classification System. Data are only for companies with employees because companies without employees are not asked to report capital expenditures by sector or industry.)

Of the 19 NAICS major industry sectors covered in this report, 8 had a statistically significant increase in capital spending in 2010 compared with 2009, 5 had a statistically significant decrease, and 6 showed no statistically significant change. The values of structures and equipment may not sum to the values of total capital expenditures due to rounding. (See Summary Chart A, Figure 3, and Figure 4)

Of the 132 industries covered in this report, 27 had a statistically significant increase in spending, 42 had a statistically significant decrease, and 63 showed no statistically significant change from 2009.

¹ The 2009 estimate of $1090.7 billion presented in this year's report reflects a $0.6 billion upward revision in the amount reported in last year's report. The present report compares business investment in 2010 and 2009. For an assessment of investment spending patterns over a longer period, see 2011 Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns-2000-2009.

² Estimated measures of sampling variability have been calculated for each estimate and are used to construct 90-percent confidence intervals (or ranges) for all estimates of change. If the estimated range of change contains zero (0), then it is uncertain whether there was an increase or a decrease; that is, the change is not statistically different from zero (0), and the current estimate is not statistically different from the prior estimate at the 90-percent confidence level. See the "Reliability of the Estimates"; Section of the Sampling and Estimation Methodologies appendix for more information on confidence intervals and statistical significance.