Washington, DC, May 1, 2006--Construction spending increased 0.9% in March, boosted by robust home building, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Outlays for residential construction increased 1.6% in March, the biggest increase since December.
Excluding home building, total construction outlays were flat in March.
The 0.9% gain was far higher than the 0.4% increase expected by economists.
Spending in February were revised higher to a 1% gain from 0.8% earlier and January's gain was revised higher by a tenth of a percentage point to 0.5%.
Spending by the private sector rose 1.1% in March. Public sector spending rose 0.2%.
Outside of residential, private sector outlays fell 0.1%, the weakest spending since October. Spending on offices fell 1.7%, while spending on power projects fell 5.8%. Outlays for manufacturing facilities increased 0.9%, while spending on commercial space rose 0.6%.
In the public sector, spending on power, transportation and public safety contributed to the 0.2% overall increase. Spending on schools fell 0.8%. Spending on highways and streets dropped 0.4%.
