Construction Spending Rises in August

Construction spending rose 0.4% in August, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The gain to $811.8 billion followed a revised 1.4% drop in July that was larger than originally reported.

The increase was in contract to economists’ forecasts of a 0.4% decline, Bloomberg reported. Spending was down 10% for the 12 months ended in August.

Private residential construction slipped 0.9%, while spending on private non-residential construction projects declined 1.4%.

Spending on government projects rose 2.5%. Federal spending rose 0.7%, while state and local construction spending jumped 2.7%.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.