Press release: “Capital spending by U.S. nonfarm businesses reached an all-time high of $1.31 trillion in 2006, topping the $1.16 trillion in 2000 and $1.14 trillion in 2005.
These results come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Capital Expenditures Survey: 2006, which measures business spending for new and used structures and equipment. The survey defines capital goods as business assets that have an expected useful life of more than a year and that are usually depreciated.
Spending on new structures and equipment accounted for almost $1.23 trillion, a 14.8 percent increase over 2005. Nearly 63 percent of this spending ($774.7 billion) went for equipment, with the rest ($450.9 billion) allocated to structures. Spending on used structures and equipment totaled $83.8 billion.”