U.S. Construction Spending Inches Slightly Higher In September

(RTTNews) - Reflecting an increase in spending on public construction, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showed an uptick by U.S. construction spending in the month of September.

The report said construction spending crept up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $2.149 trillion in September after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of $2.146 trillion in August.

Economists had expected construction spending to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

The uptick by construction spending came as spending on construction increased by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $495.2 billion in September.

Spending on educational construction rose by 0.3 percent to a rate of $104.2 billion, while spending on highway construction climbed by 0.5 percent to a rate of $141.0 billion.

Meanwhile, the report said spending on private construction came in at an annual rate of $1.654 trillion in September, virtually unchanged from the revised August estimate.

While spending on residential construction crept up by 0.2 percent to a rate of $913.6 billion, spending on non-residential construction edged down by 0.1 percent to a rate of $740.0 billion.