U.S. construction spending rises for fourth straight month in November

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. construction spending rose for the fourth straight month in November, pointing to a strengthening housing recovery, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

Construction spending rose 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,257 billion U.S. dollars in November, the department said. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent increase of construction spending for the month.

The monthly gain was led by the private sector, where spending on construction was up 1 percent in November, while public construction spending rose only 0.2 percent for the month.

In November, spending on private residential projects surged 1 percent to the highest level since February 2007, signaling that the housing market recovery was gaining momentum. That would help boost economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The U.S. economy is expected to expand at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of the year, matching the same growth rate in the previous quarter, according to the latest forecast from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Enditem