WASHINGTON — Construction spending rose 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted estimated annual rate of $860.8 billion in April, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
The rate was up from a revised March estimate of $857.7 billion, originally reported as $856.7 billion. The increase was lower than the median 0.8% gain projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
The April figure was 4.3% above the $825.1 billion estimate for the same month one year ago.
During the first four months of the year, construction spending was $250.7 billion, 4.5% above $239.8 billion for the same period in 2012.
Private construction increased 1.0% to $602.0 billion from a revised $595.9 billion and was the highest level since December 2012 when it was almost $624.7 billion. Residential construction edged down 0.1% to an estimate of $301.9 billion while nonresidential construction rose 2.2% to $300.1 billion.
Public construction spending fell 1.2% in April to a $258.8 billion annual rate, from a revised $261.8 billion in March. Education construction dropped 4.4% to $58.7 billion from the revised estimate of $61.4 billion. Highway construction showed a gain of 0.5% to $76.7 billion, from a revised $76.2 billion estimate for March.
