Reuters
US Construction Spending Hits New High
Monday May 3, 10:07 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. construction spending surged more than expected to a record high in March, as residential and public construction outlays notched fresh records, a government report showed on Monday.
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Total construction spending rose 1.5 percent, the biggest increase since last July, to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of $944.051 billion from an upwardly adjusted $930.015 billion in February, the Commerce Department said.
Analysts were expecting a 0.5 percent climb.
Private residential construction spending rose 0.7 percent to a $507.194 billion rate from a revised $503.695 billion pace the month before. Home sales surged in March as buyers jumped to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates that have begun to rise as the U.S. economy gains strength.
All public construction climbed 5.2 percent -- the largest jump since August 2000 -- to a $221.666 billion rate in March from a revised a $210.733 billion pace in February. State and local construction outlays rose 5.0 percent to a $205.069 billion rate, a new high.
Federal construction jumped 7.2 percent in March, the largest increase since April last year.
Private non-residential construction spending fell 0.2 percent overall, but spending to build offices, health care facilities and educational structures registered gains.
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Reuters
U.S. Factories Slow in April
Monday May 3, 10:19 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. factories slowed their pace of expansion in output last month, but factories added more workers, a survey released on Monday said.
The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index slipped to 62.4 in April from March's 62.5. Economists had forecast a rise to 63.0.
A reading above 50 shows expansion. It was the 11th consecutive month of expansion in the sector that makes up less than a fifth of the U.S. economy. In January, the index stood at a two-decade high at 63.6.
ISM said the employment component of the index rose to 57.8 from 57.0 in March.
The ISM index is compiled from monthly responses by purchasing executives at more than 400 industrial companies, ranging from textiles and chemicals to paper and computers. |
