Construction up marginally in March

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WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Construction spending rose slightly month-to-month in March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

Total construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $808.1 billion, down from the downwardly revised estimate of $807.3 billion in February, the bureau said.

Spending for March was 6 percent above March 2011, when $762.6 billion was spent on construction projects on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $531.9 billion, 0.7 percent above February's $528.1 billion, the Census Bureau said.

The report said residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $244.1 billion in March. Non-residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $287.8 billion in February, 0.7 percent above the previous month.

The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending in February was $276.2 billion, 1.1 percent below the revised February estimate of $279.1 billion, the Census Bureau said.

Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $69.1 billion, 1.2 percent below the revised February estimate of $70 billion, the bureau said. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $77 billion, 0.8 percent below the revised February estimate of $77.6 billion.