After reporting a notable drop in U.S. construction spending in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing that construction spending rebounded by slightly more than expected in February.
The report said construction spending rose 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $885.1 billion in February from the revised January estimate of $874.8 billion. Economists had expected spending to increase by about 1.1 percent.
With the rebound, the annual rate of construction spending in February is up by 7.9 percent compared to $820.7 billion in the same month a year ago.
The increase in construction spending was partly due to a 1.3 percent increase in spending on private construction, which rose to an annual rate of $613.0 billion.
Spending on residential construction surged up by 2.2 percent, while spending on non-residential construction edged up by 0.4 percent.
The report also said spending on public construction rose by 0.9 percent due in part to a 3.4 percent jump in spending on highway construction. Spending on educational construction dipped 0.3 percent.
The Commerce Department said total construction spending amounted to $120.1 billion in the first two months of the year, up 6.6 percent compared to $112.6 billion for the same period in 2012.
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