US Construction Spending +1.5% In January
By DEBORAH LAGOMARSINO; DOW JONES NEWSWIRES; 202-862-9255; DEBORAH.LAGOMARSINO@DOWJONES.COM
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Construction Spending Jan Dec !Surprise: Yes !
Overall Spending: 1.5% 0.5%r !Trend:Housing !
Residential : 0.1% 0.5%r !Sector Strong !
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By Deborah Lagomarsino
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -- U.S. expenditures on new office buildings, roads, public-works projects and homes in January posted their biggest gain in a year, further evidence the economy may be emerging from recession.
Total construction spending in January rose by 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $876.7 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. December construction spending was revised up to a 0.5% increase after originally being reported rising 0.2%.
The January construction numbers were much stronger than what Wall Street had expected. A consensus forecast by Thomson Financial called for construction spending to rise 0.3% for the month.
The healthy construction numbers follow a spate of upbeat economic data on durable goods, housing, the labor market and fourth-quarter gross domestic product.
The construction report showed that private construction expenditures rose by 0.8% for the month to $658.1 billion after falling by a revised 0.3% in December. Within that category, residential construction spending rose 0.1% in January after rising a revised 0.5% in December.
Expenditures on non-residential construction, such as office buildings, rose by 2.2% in January after a revised 2.9% fall in December.
Public construction, which includes roads, sewer systems and schools, rose by 3.7% in January after rising a revised 2.9% rise in December.
Total construction spending was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.
Updated March 1, 2002 10:00 a.m. EST |
