Construction spending rose in December

Construction spending for December rose 1.5 percent above November, but fell 2 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. Spending on private and public projects for November reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $816.4 billion, the monthly construction spending report said. For the year, spending on private and public construction reached $787.4 billion, a 2 percent drop from 2010, when $803.6 billion was spent on construction projects. Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $529.7 billion, 2.1 percent above the revised November estimate of $518.8 billion, the Census Bureau said. The report said residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $241.2 billion in December, a 0.8 percent rise above the previous month. Non-residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $288.5 billion in November, 3.3 percent above the previous month. The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending in December was $286.6 billion, 0.5 percent above the revised November estimate of $285.3 billion, the Census Bureau said. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $70.9 billion, 0.6 percent below the revised November estimate of $71.1 billion, the bureau said. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $84.5 billion, 1.8 percent above the revised November estimate of $82.9 billion.