By Josh Newell
WASHINGTON (MNI) – U.S. construction spending rose by 0.3% in
April, following an upwardly revised 0.3% increase the previous month,
the Commerce Department reported Friday.
This was slightly below forecasts from an MNI survey of economists,
the median of which centered around a 0.4% rise.
Both March and February saw positive revisions. March’s headline
number was revised to a 0.3% increase from +0.1%, and February’s figure
was revised to a 0.4% decline from an initially reported 1.4% drop.
Private construction spending accounted for all of the growth,
increasing by 1.2% after a positively revised 0.8% rise in March.
Private residential construction grew 2.8%, its largest monthly
increase since October 2011, as single family housing posted gains of
1.8% and multi-family housing rose by 4.1%.
Meanwhile, private nonresidential construction declined by 0.2%,
pushed down by a 4.6% drop in manufacturing and a 1% decline in power
construction.
Negating much of the gains made by private construction was public
construction, which fell 1.4% for the month, as federal construction
declined 5% — the largest drop since October — and state and local
construction fell 1%.
Within public construction, education decreased 0.9%;
transportation fell 0.5%; and sewage and waste disposal declined 3.9%.
** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MAUDS$]
