WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending advanced in March to its highest level in more than eight years. Gains in home building and nonresidential construction offset a drop in government projects.
Construction spending rose 0.3 percent in March after a 1 percent gain in February, the Commerce Department said Monday. The back-to-back increases raised total spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.14 trillion, the highest level since October 2007.
But the construction spending figure for January was revised down by the government to show a drop of 0.3 percent rather than a previously reported increase of 2.1 percent.
Last month, home construction increased at a 1.6 percent annual rate, while nonresidential construction increased 0.7 percent. Spending on government projects dropped 1.9 percent, with both state and local and federal spending falling.
Home construction was a bright spot last year for the U.S. economy, and that support is expected to continue through 2016.
Residential construction grew at a 14.8 percent annual pace in the first three months of the year. It was one of the few sources of strength in a quarter in which the overall economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.5 percent — the slowest pace in two years.
Single-family construction was flat in March. But multi-family activity, a more volatile sector, jumped 5.6 percent.
The 0.7 percent rise in nonresidential activity lifted this sector to its highest level since October 2008. In March, spending on hotel and motel construction rose 1.6 percent, while the category that covers shopping centers posted a 0.8 percent gain and spending on hospitals and other health care facilities rose 1.4 percent. Construction of office buildings fell 0.8 percent in March.
In the government category, spending on state and local projects dropped 1.4 percent. Spending in the smaller federal government category fell 7.4 percent.
The home construction boom peaked in 2006. But after the housing bubble burst, construction activity fell for the next five years. Construction spending has been rising since 2012.
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