U.S. Construction Spending Increases 1 Percent in December

U.S. construction spending rose 1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.161 trillion—an all-time high, according to numbers released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Feb. 1.

Spending on private construction increased 1.1 percent to a rate of $904.3 billion. Both residential and nonresidential construction registered increases in spending in December, at 1 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

Public construction saw a smaller increase of 0.7 percent in December, rising to a rate of $256.3 billion from November’s rate of $254.5 billion. Educational construction rose 1.5 percent while highway construction spending fell 0.6 percent from November.