Construction Spending Rises 0.7% in October
Construction spending rose 0.7% in October, the Commerce Department said.
The increase to $802.3 billion followed a revised 0.7% rise in September that was originally reported as a 0.5% increase.
The October gain was in contrast to economists’ forecasts of a 0.3% decline, Bloomberg reported. Spending was down 9.3% for the 12 months ended in October.
Private construction gained 0.8%. Homebuilding increased 2.5%, though private non-residential projects dropped 0.7%, led by a drop in factory construction.
Public construction rose 0.4% and federal spending grew 0.9% to $33 billion, the highest since records began in 1993.
Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.
