US construction spending rises in December
Washington (AFP) - US spending on construction rose modestly in December, led by a jump in the public sector such as highway projects, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
Total construction spending rose to an adjusted annual rate of $982.1 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent from the revised November number, the department said.
For the private sector, construction spending edged up 0.1 percent from November, with spending on home building gaining 0.3 percent and spending on nonresidential construction down 0.2 percent.
Public construction spending advanced a much stronger 1.1 percent in December. Outlays on highway construction surged 2.1 percent, while educational construction dropped 0.6 percent.
For all of 2014, spending on construction increased 5.6 percent from 2013. Private construction scored a hefty 7.2 percent gain that eclipsed the 1.8 percent rise in the public sector.
