WASHINGTON — Construction spending was up 0.8% in November, slightly above the expected 0.7% gain, mainly due to the 1.0% gain in private construction spending, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.
Public construction spending saw a soft 0.2% gain in November following a 3.5% and 2.5% increase in October and September, respectively.
Analysts had expected construction spending to rise 0.7%, adding to a 1.4% rise in October. With the latest data, October construction was revised down to a 0.9% increase, but September spending was revised sharply up to a 1.3% increase from the 0.3% rise previously reported.
Private residential construction spending was up 1.0% in the month, but total new home building rose 1.3% based on an MNI calculation. Single-family building rose 1.9%, offsetting a 1.3% decline in multi-family building. Residential construction excluding new homes, which captures remodelling was up 0.7% based on an MNI calculation. This followed a 0.3% rise in October.
Private nonresidential construction was up 0.9% in November after declines in four of the last five months, with September posting the only gain. There were increases in all categories except for communication, power, and manufacturing
The soft 0.2% rise in public construction comes after strong gains in the previous three months. Federal spending fell 4.8% after a strong 11.3% gain in October, while state and local building rose 0.7% in the month.
