US construction rose to six-year high last month
US construction spending made its largest gain in a year in September, the Commerce Department said yesterday, bolstered by a record pace in public construction and the biggest increase in private residential building in more than six years.
The Commerce Department said spending on construction projects rose 0.8 per cent to $940.3bn (£573bn), after dropping 0.1 per cent in August. Spending originally was reported as rising 0.8 per cent in August. Analysts had expected spending to fall by 0.2 per cent.
Public construction, fueled by billions of dollars of capital works spending in the US economic stimulus plan, rose 1.3 per cent to $326.4bn, an all-time high, after falling 1.1 per cent in August.
Home building rose 3.9 per cent, its largest gain since rising 4.2 per cent in July 2003, in a sign that strength may be returning to the devastated housing market.