The Commerce Department has reported a rise in U.S. construction spending for September, driven primarily by increased public construction outlays. According to the report issued on Friday, construction expenditures edged up by 0.1% to an annualized figure of $2.149 trillion for the month, following a similar 0.1% rise to a revised estimate of $2.146 trillion in August.
Contrary to economists' predictions, which anticipated no change from the initially reported 0.1% decline in the previous month, the modest rise in construction spending was primarily attributed to a 0.5% increase, reaching an annualized pace of $495.2 billion.
Further details from the report indicate that spending on educational infrastructure grew by 0.3%, amounting to $104.2 billion, and highway construction expenses increased by 0.5%, reaching $141.0 billion.
Conversely, the report shows that private construction spending remained stable at an annual rate of $1.654 trillion. Within this sector, residential construction spending increased slightly by 0.2% to $913.6 billion, whereas non-residential construction spending decreased marginally by 0.1% to $740.0 billion.
