WASHINGTON | Construction spending rose 0.7 percent in December to a record high. It was the fifth consecutive monthly gain with all major sectors showing modest increases.
The Commerce Department said Thursday the December increase followed a 0.6 percent rise in November. It closed out a year in which construction spending rose 3.8 percent. It was the sixth straight annual increase but the weakest performance since a decline in 2011, a period when spending fell for five years as builders struggled to emerge from the housing bust and the Great Recession.
For December, spending on housing projects rose 0.5 percent while nonresidential construction was up a stronger 1.1 percent. Spending on government projects rose 0.3 percent as strength at the federal level offset a drop in state and local construction.
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