U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Inches Higher In November

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday unexpectedly showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of November.

The Commerce Department said construction spending crept up by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.808 trillion in November after edging down by 0.2 percent to a revised rate of $1.803 trillion in October.

The uptick surprised economists, who had been expecting construction to decrease by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected increase in construction spending came as spending on private construction rose by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.426 trillion.

Spending on non-residential construction surged by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $558.3 billion, more than offsetting a 0.5 percent drop in spending on residential construction to an annual rate of $868.0 billion.

Meanwhile, the report showed spending on public construction edged down by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $381.6 billion.

Spending on highway construction tumbled by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of $115.0 billion, while spending on educational construction inched up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $81.3 billion.

The Commerce Department noted total construction spending in November was up by 8.5 percent compared to the same month a year ago.