Construction spending rose in December

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Construction spending rose in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $885 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday.

Total construction spending in November was revised to $876.9 billion, the bureau said. That put the month-to-month increase at 0.9 percent.

Spending in December was 7.8 percent above spending in December 2011, when $820.6 billion was spent on construction projects on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.

For the last month of the year, spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $614.9 billion, 2 percent above the revised estimate for November of $602.9 billion, the Census Bureau said.

The figure for private-sector projects includes $308.2 billion spent on residential projects and $306.7 billion spent on non-residential projects.

The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending in December was $270.1 billion, 1.4 percent below the revised November estimate of $274.1 billion, the Census Bureau said.

Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $65.5 billion, while highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $78.5 billion.