Last Thursday, the Commerce Department disclosed a report revealing a significant rise in U.S. construction spending, considerably higher than expected, in December.
The report stated that construction spending in December increased by 0.9 percent, reaching an annual rate of $2.096 trillion, following a 0.9 percent increase to an adjusted $2.078 trillion in the prior month.
Contrary to the 0.4 percent growth initially reported for the month prior, economists had projected a 0.5 percent increase in construction spending.
Private construction spending rose by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $1.620 trillion, according to the Commerce Department. This was primarily due to a 1.4 percent surge in residential construction spending, which counterbalanced a 0.2 percent dip in non-residential construction spending.
Public construction spending climbed by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of $476.3 billion. A large 4.1 percent increase in highway construction spending compensated for a modest 0.1 percent drop in educational construction spending.
