WASHINGTON — Construction spending was up 0.7% in December, above the expected 0.5% gain, mainly due to the 0.8% gain in private construction spending, data released by the Commerce Department Thursday morning showed.
Analysts had expected construction spending to rise 0.5%, adding to a 0.8% rise in November. With the latest data, November construction was revised down to a 0.6% increase, while October spending was revised sharply down to a 0.1% increase from the 0.9% rise previously reported.
Private residential construction spending was up 0.5% in the month, but home building ex. new homes, also known as remodeling, fell 0.2% according to an MNI calculation. New homes saw a 0.8% rise, also based on an MNI calculation. Single-family building saw a 0.4% increase, while multi-family building posted a 2.6% rise from November.
Private nonresidential construction was up 1.1% in December. There were significant increases in office, commercial, lodging, and communication, with the only declines in power and manufacturing.
The data shows fixed investment finished strong in the fourth quarter, ahead of the previous quarter's average.
Public construction spending saw a 0.3% gain in December following a revised 0.1% and 2.4% increase in November and October, respectively.
The gain in public construction reflected a 10.9% surge in Federal Government spending, jumping to the highest level seen since December 2012. State and local building softened the large gain in the Federal Government spending, seeing a decline of 0.6% in the month.
