WASHINGTON - Construction spending rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in April, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
The March number was revised to a 0.1% gain from the originally reported 1.4% increase. That makes April's increase the largest percentage gain since the 1.1% rise in October 2010.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had a median estimate of a 0.4% jump in construction.
Analysts were expecting an April increase as a continued "payback" for the weather-induced decline in winter building.
Total private construction was reported up 1.7% for the month. Private residential construction was reported at a 3.1% increase overall, however the components broken out by the Commerce Department in the report showed single-family home building down 1.0% and multi-family buildings down 0.1%.
A department official attributed the apparent conflict to an increase in the volatile home improvement category, which was not broken out separately in the Wednesday release.
Private business-related construction was up 0.5%, the third straight monthly increase, although not as rapid as the February and March figures.
Government construction fell 1.9%. Analysts had expected a continued decline because of the wind-down of stimulus money and the constraints of state and local budget cuts.
