The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of October.
The report said construction spending inched up by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.598 trillion in October after edging down by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of $1.595 trillion in September.
Economists had expected construction spending to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
The modest increase in construction spending came as spending on public construction jumped by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $353.0 billion.
Spending on highway construction surged up by 2.4 percent to a rate of $102.5 billion, while spending on educational construction crept up by 0.2 percent to a rate of $82.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said spending on private construction dipped by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.245 billion.
Spending on residential construction fell by 0.5 percent to a rate of $774.7 billion, more than offsetting a 0.2 percent uptick in spending on non-residential construction to a rate of $470.3 billion.
The Commerce Department noted total construction spending in October was up by 8.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago.
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