Construction Spending Rises 0.4% to Record Rate

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he Commerce Department said Friday that construction spending rose 0.4% in February to a record $1.05 trillion annual pace.

The level was up from January’s revised $1.04 trillion level, Commerce said.

The 13th month of consecutive increases was the longest since records began being kept in 1993, Bloomberg reported.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.

Private residential construction, which accounts for more than half of construction spending, rose 0.7% in February to a $578.7 billion annual rate, following a 0.3% rise in January, Commerce said.

Construction spending by the government rose 1.1% in February and public spending on road projects rose 2.5% to $72.2 billion, up almost 21% from a year ago, the department said.

The only major category to decline was private, non-residential construction, which fell 1.2% to $228.7 billion, after rising 1.3% in January. The February decline was the first since November, Bloomberg reported.