WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Monday showed U.S. construction spending increased by much more than anticipated in the month of January.
The Commerce Department said construction spending spiked by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $1.522 trillion in January after jumping by 1.1 percent to a revised rate of $1.497 trillion in December. Economists had expected construction spending to climb by 0.8 percent.
The bigger than expected increase in construction spending came as spending private construction surged up by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $1.160 trillion.
Spending on residential construction soared by 2.5 percent to a rate of $713.0 billion, while spending on non-residential construction rose by 0.4 percent to a rate of $447.0 billion.
The report also showed spending on public construction jumped by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $361.5 billion, partly reflecting a 5.8 percent spike in spending on highway construction.
Compared to the same month a year ago, total construction spending in January was up by 1.0 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX