U.S. Construction Spending Picks Up In October

(RTTNews) - U.S. construction spending rebounded in October thanks to higher spending on public projects, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Construction spending for October was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $908.4 billion, 0.8 percent above the September estimate of $901.2 billion. Markets were anticipating a 0.5 percent increase.

Public construction spending was $282.7 billion, up 3.9 percent from the previous month, due mostly to educational building and highway projects.

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $625.7 billion, 0.5 percent below the September estimate of $629.0 billion.

Overall construction spending was up 5.3 percent from October 2012.