Construction spending rises
U.S. construction spending rose to its highest level in nearly 2-1/2 years in May as investment in residential and federal government projects surged.
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce said construction spending during May was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $830.0 billion, 0.9 percent above the revised April estimate of $822.5 billion.
The May figure is 7.0 percent above the May 2011 estimate of $775.8 billion and the highest level since December 2009. Still, the level of spending is roughly half of what economists consider to be healthy.
During the first 5 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $310.5 billion, 9.4 percent above the $283.8 billion for the same period in 2011.
Residential construction rose 3 percent to an annual rate of $261.3 billion, further evidence that housing has finally started to mount a modest recovery.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $560.4 billion, 1.6 percent above the revised April estimate of $551.8 billion.
In May, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $269.6 billion, 0.4 percent below the revised April estimate of $270.7 billion.
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