Construction spending in U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.
The Commerce Department said construction spending surged by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.908 trillion in April after rising by 0.3 percent to a revised rate of $1.885 trillion in March. Economists had expected construction spending to inch up by 0.2 percent.
The sharp increase in construction spending was partly due to a spike in spending on private construction, which shot up by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.501 trillion in April.
Spending on residential construction rose by 0.5 percent to a rate of $845.4 billion, while spending on non-residential construction soared by 2.4 percent to a rate of $655.3 billion.
The report said spending on public construction on also jumped by 1.1 percent to an annual rate of $407.7 billion in April.
While spending on educational construction edged down by 0.1 percent to a rate of $88.3 billion, spending on highway construction surged by 1.3 percent to a rate of $124.7 billion.
