Construction Spending Rises 1.8% in July
Construction spending rose 1.8% in July, the Commerce Department reported Sept. 2.
The rise is the biggest one-month gain since May 2012, the Associated Press reported, and follows a revised 0.9% decline in June that originally was reported as a 1.8% drop.
Private construction spending rose 1.4%, with private residential construction increasing 0.7% and private nonresidential construction rising 2.1%.
The July increase pushed total construction to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $981.3 billion, the highest level since December 2008, AP reported.
Public construction rose 3%, but federal construction dropped 10.4% as state and local construction increased 3.4%
Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.
