04.09.201810:26:00UTC+00U.S. Construction Spending Inches Up Less Than Expected In July

A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a modest uptick in construction spending in the U.S. in the month of July.

The Commerce Department said construction spending inched up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $1.315 trillion in July after falling by 0.8 percent to a revised rate of $1.314 trillion in June.

Economists had expected construction to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

The modest increase in construction spending came as spending on public construction climbed by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $304.5 billion.

Spending on educational construction surged up by 2.1 percent to a rate of $71.6 billion, while spending on highway construction rose by 0.4 percent to a rate of $94.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the report said spending on private construction edged down by 0.1 percent to a rate of $1.011 trillion.

Spending on residential construction climbed by 0.6 percent to a rate of $560.1 billion, but spending on non-residential construction tumbled by 1.0 percent to a rate of $450.9 billion.

Compared to the same month a year ago, total construction spending in July was up by 5.8 percent.