U.S. Construction Spending Climbs Much More Than Expected In December

The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing U.S. construction spending jumped much more than anticipated in the month of December.

The report said construction spending increased by 0.9 percent to an annual rate of $2.096 trillion in December after climbing by 0.9 percent to an upwardly revised $2.078 trillion in November.

Economists had expected construction spending to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.4 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said spending on private construction climbed by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $1.620 trillion, as a 1.4 percent jump in spending on residential construction was partly offset by a 0.2 percent drop in spending on non-residential construction.

Spending on public construction surged by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of $476.3 billion, with a 4.1 percent spike in spending on highway construction more than offsetting a 0.1 percent dip in spending on educational construction.