WASHINGTON, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. construction spending continued to increase modestly in April, helped by the growth of residential and public constructions, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
Total construction spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 953.5 billion U.S. dollars in April, 0.2 percent above the revised March data. It is the highest level since March 2009, but the growth rate was lower than the market expectation of 0.6 percent.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 686.5 billion dollars in April, nearly the same as the revised level of March. Residential construction rose 0.1 percent, while non-residential construction declined 0.1 percent on a month-over-month basis. ' The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was 267 billion dollars in April, up 0.8 percent from the previous month.
Despite of the small increase, the recovery of the housing sector remains uncertain, which has showed signs of slowdown since the second half of last year, as sharp increases in home prices and limited inventories, as well as higher mortgage rates have discouraged many home buyers.
|
