Data from the US Census Bureau showed Wednesday that construction spending during December 2011 was at an approximate annual rate of US$816.4 billion, up 1.5 percent from November spending of US$804 billion. Construction spending in December reflected the fourth month of growth over the last five months. The December figure is also 4.3 percent above the December 2010 annual rate of US$782.9 billion.
Nevertheless, during the year 2011, construction spending amounted to US$787.4 billion, 2 percent below the US$803.6 billion for 2010.
Spending on both private and public construction contributed to December's monthly increase. Private construction spending was at an annual rate of US$529.7 billion, 2.1 percent above the November level, while the annual rate of public construction spending was US$286.6 billion--0.5 percent above spending in November.