Construction spending rises 0.9% in month

7/3/2012

WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending rose 0.9 percent in May from April, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The surge, driven mostly by home building, was the second straight monthly increase and the biggest percentage gain since December.

The May increase pushed spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $830 billion. That is 11.3 percent above a 12-year low hit in February, 2011, but is roughly half of what economists consider to be healthy.