Under the Hood of Construction Spending Is More Federal Projects
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Here’s one key takeaway from the Commerce Department’s report Tuesday on construction spending. The 1 percent gain in October, which exceeded the 0.6 percent median forecast, was broad-based and included the biggest surge in federal outlays since October 2006.
* Gain in total construction spending was biggest in five months and indicates a bigger boost to fourth-quarter GDP * U.S. government construction jumped 19.2 percent, the most since October 2006 * At $27.6 billion, the value of federal government construction projects was the highest since May 2012 * Private nonresidential construction rose 0.6 percent, the most since May, and private homebuilding increased another 1 percent to the highest level since December 2007