Construction Spending Posts 0.3% Gain in August

October 2, 2006 10:00 AM, EDT

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onstruction spending rose 0.3% in August, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The uptick followed a revised 1% drop in July. July’s initially-reported plunge of 1.2% was the index’s biggest decline in five years, Commerce said.

conomists had forecast construction spending to decline 0.3% in August, Bloomberg reported.

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