Construction spending, materials orders rose in April; state trends remain bleak

Construction spending increased 2.7 percentin April, the largest one-month percentage gain in a decade, to $869 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday [June 1]. Nevertheless, the total was 10.5 percent lower than a year earlier. Public construction climbed 2.4 percent for the month but fell 4.4 percent year-over-year. Private nonresidential construction was up 1.7 percent in April but was 25 percent lower than in April 2009. Private residential spending rose 4.4 percent and 4.1 percent. Federal stimulus spending apparently drove significant increases in a range of public constructioncategories, according to a June 3 Data DIGest report.

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