Construction Spending Report Delivers $1T Good News
Construction spending in April jumped 2.2% to an annual rate of $1T. It was the biggest percentage increase since May 2012 and the best pace since November 2008 according to today's Commerce Department report. A 1.8% climb lifted private construction spending to its best result since October 2008, when the global economy was just hitting the wall. The report comes as a balm to the economy following last week's announcement of a 0.7% first quarter economic retraction. Economists had told Reuters they were expecting just 0.7% growth in the sector. In other good news, the March construction spending numbers were revised upward to a 0.5% uptick from initial reports of a 0.6% slide. State and local governments were up a vigorous 3.6%, which made up for a 3.6% stumble in spending by the federal government, which constitutes a smaller share of public outlays.
