01.03.2016 16:43:54

U.S. Construction Spending Increases More Than Expected In January

(RTTNews) - Construction spending in the U.S. increased by much more than anticipated in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The report construction spending surged up by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of $1.141 trillion in January from the revised December estimate of $1.124 trillion. Spending had been expected to rise by 0.5 percent.

The much bigger than expected increase in construction spending reflected the strongest monthly growth since last May.

With the notable increase, the annual rate of construction spending reached its highest level since October of 2007.

The stronger than expected growth was partly due to a jump in spending on public construction, which soared 4.5 percent to an annual rate of $309.4 billion in January.

Spending on highway construction shot up by 14.7 percent to a rate of $110.4 billion, while spending on educational construction fell by 1.9 percent to a rate of $68.8 billion.

The report also said spending on private construction rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $831.4 billion in January.

While spending on residential construction was nearly unchanged at a rate of $433.2 billion, spending on non-residential construction climbed 1.0 percent to a rate of $398.2 billion.

The Commerce Department noted that total construction spending in January was up by 10.4 percent compared to the same month a year ago.