Construction Spending Rises in December

Construction spending rose 1.5% in December, the most in four months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The increase followed a revised 0.4% gain in November that was originally reported as a 1.2% increase, Commerce said.

The December upturn was larger than economists’ forecasts of a 0.5% increase, Bloomberg reported.

Private construction spending climbed 2.1% to $530 billion, the highest level in a year, while homebuilding spending gained 0.8%.

Public construction spending rose 0.5%, with federal construction spending edging up 0.3%.

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