Construction spending advances 0.1% in month

5/1/2012

WASHINGTON -- U.S. construction spending ticked up 0.1 percent in March after two straight months of declines, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The gain left construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $808.1 billion. That's 6 percent above a 12-year low of $762.6 billion hit in March, 2011. Still, the level of spending is roughly half of what economists consider to be healthy.

Payless stores' owner agrees to $1.3B offer

NEW YORK -- Collective Brands Inc., which owns shoe store chains Payless and Stride Rite, is to be acquired for about $1.3 billion by a group that includes Wolverine Worldwide Inc., owner of Hush Puppies.

Also in the purchasing group are private investment firms Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital.