In 2012, U.S. nonfarm businesses invested $1,424.2 billion in new and used structures and equipment, an increase of 14.6 percent over the revised 2011 total of $1,243.0 billion. ^(1,2). (See Summary Table A, Tables 1a and 1b) Total spending on new structures and new equipment was $1,335.2 billion, an increase of 13.9 percent over the revised 2011 total of $1,172.8 billion.

Expenditures in 2012 for new and used structures totaled $570.5 billion, an increase of $98.7 billion (20.9 percent) from 2011. (See Figure 1) Of this amount, $534.7 billion (93.7 percent) was spent for new structures, up $92.0 billion (20.8 percent) from 2011. Expenditures for used structures totaled $35.8 billion, a $6.8 billion (23.3 percent) increase over 2011.

Spending on new and used equipment totaled $853.7 billion in 2012, up $82.5 billion (10.7 percent) from 2011. Of this amount, $800.5 billion (93.8 percent) was for new equipment, an increase of $70.5 billion (9.7 percent) from 2011. Expenditures for used equipment totaled $53.1 billion, an increase of $12.0 billion (29.2 percent) from 2011.

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The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey collects data from companies with and without employees. Companies with employees accounted for $1,334.9 billion (93.7 percent) of total capital spending in 2012. These companies invested $533.1 billion in structures, an increase of $92.2 billion (20.9 percent) from 2011, and $801.8 billion in equipment, up $73.1 billion (10.0 percent) from 2011. (See Figure 2)

Companies without employees accounted for $89.2 billion of capital spending in 2012, with $37.4 billion spent on structures and $51.8 billion spent on equipment.(See Summary Table B below.)

(See Tables 2, 3, and 4)

(Data in this section are based on the 2012 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, 12 had a statistically significant increase in capital spending in 2012 compared with 2011, none had a statistically significant decrease, and 7 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 below, Figure 3, and Figure 4)

¹ The present report compares business investment in 2012 and 2011. For an assessment of investment spending patterns over a longer period, see 2012 Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns-2001-2010 at: //www.census.gov/econ/aces/report/2012/csr.html
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 Sampling and Estimation Methodologies for more information on confidence intervals and statistical significance.

The present report compares business investment in 2012 and 2011. For an assessment of investment spending patterns over a longer period, see 2012 Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns-2001-2010.

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 Sampling and Estimation Methodologies for more information on confidence intervals and statistical significance.