Your Economy (No Politics)

[Bullwinkle]

U.S. Oct construction spending rises to record
Thu Dec 1, 2005 10:05 AM ET


WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. construction spending grew by a greater-than-expected 0.7 percent in October as private residential building and public construction reached record high levels, a government report showed on Thursday.

Construction spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.132 trillion from a revised $1.124 trillion in September.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.5 percent rise in October. September? increase was revised down to a 0.2 percent rise from an originally reported 0.5 percent gain.

Private residential spending rose 0.6 percent to an annual $630 billion rate, a record. Public construction spending climbed 1.9 percent to $254 billion, also a new high.

Private nonresidential construction, seen as a token of business confidence fell 0.3 percent, the second consecutive drop and the biggest decline since a 1.3 percent slide in June.

Strong construction spending comes even as the persistently hot U.S. housing market shows signs of slowing down as mortgage interest rates rise.


© Reuters 2005