Construction Pace Up 4th Month in Row

Construction spending rose 0.9% in October, the fourth consecutive monthly increase, with half of the gain coming in single-family homes, the government said Thursday.

The Commerce Department said building activity rose $3.7-billion to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $409.2 billion. Strength was widespread in most categories, but $1.9 billion of the gain came in single-family homes, which jumped 1.6% to $118.5 billion.

Construction spending, which rose 0.7% in September and 0.2% in August, recently has bucked what has been a generally lackluster building trend over the past year.

Even with the latest string of increases, building activity advanced only 2.1% in the past 12 months. Taking a 1.7% rise in construction costs into account, activity advanced a mere 0.4% over the period.