Strong construction spending rebound in April

Construction spending rebounded strongly in April, with an increase of 2.7 percent or $23 billion from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $869 billion according to the latest analysis of federal spending figures released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The association noted that the gains were primarily driven by private residential construction (up 4.4 percent) and public construction (up 2.4 percent), but that private nonresidential also increased significantly (up 1.7 percent).

“The stimulus is clearly driving one of the biggest increases in construction spending the industry has experienced in a long time,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the construction trade association. “Once you look beyond the stimulus, however, these figures show how uneven and fragile the construction recovery remains,” according to a June 1 AGC release.

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