U.S. Construction Spending Rises 1% In November, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - With an increase in spending on private construction more than offsetting a drop in spending on public construction, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. construction spending rose in line with economist estimates in the month of November.

The Commerce Department said construction spending rose 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $934.4 billion in November from the revised October estimate of $925.1 billion. The increase in spending matched economist estimates.

The increase in total construction spending was partly due to an increase in spending on private construction, which rose 2.2 percent to an annual rate of $659.4 billion.

Spending on residential construction increased 1.9 percent to an annual rate of $345.5 billion, while spending on non-residential construction jumped 2.7 percent to an annual rate of $313.9 billion.

Meanwhile, the report said spending on public construction dropped by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $275.0 billion in November.

State and local government construction spending slid 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $249.0 billion, while federal government construction spending fell 3.7 percent to an annual rate of $26.5 billion.

The Commerce Department noted that total construction spending for November is 5.9 percent above the November 2012 estimate of $882.7 billion.

During the first 11 months of 2013, construction spending amounted to $828.4 billion, 5.0 percent above the $788.8 billion for the same period in 2012.