Ontario Construction News staff writer
Construction spending south of the border jumped to a record high in January, boosted by strong private and public outlays.
The American Commerce Department said in a release on Monday that construction spending increased 1.7 per cent to $1.521 trillion, the highest level since the government started tracking the series in 2002. Data for December was revised slightly higher to show construction outlays rising 1.1 per cent.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending would increase less than one per cent in January, however the actual spending increased 5.8 per cent over last year’s stat in January.
Construction spending accounts for about 4 per cent of US gross domestic product.
Spending on private construction projects increased 1.7 per cent, boosted by investment in single family homes driven by a pandemic migration to suburbs and low-density areas. That followed a 1.5 per cent advance in December.
Spending on residential projects rose 2.5 per cent in January and spending on non-residential construction like gas and oil well drilling rose 0.4%.
Finally, public construction project spending jumped 1.7 per cent and federal government spending increased 6.8 per cent.