US Spending Hits Five-Year High after Recovering from Harsh Winter

A 0.2 percent rise in US construction spending in April was enough to mark it as a five year high and demonstrates a strong recovery from a winter of severe weather.

A seasonally adjusted annual rate of $953.5 billion represents the strongest performance since March 2009, a figure which is actually slightly lower than economists had expected after March 2014 saw a 0.6 percent gain, up 0.4 percent on forecasts.

These two impressive months will provide optimism for the year ahead after unkind weather had resulted in a 0.4 percent decline in spending in January.  

Construction remains a shining light in the overall US economic picture as its economy contracted by one percent in Q1 2014. This is expected to reverse to a 3.8 percent growth in Q2.

In April, residential construction edged up 0.1 percent. It was the lowest monthly gain since an outright decline last October. However, the small increase followed strong gains over the past five months and was enough to lift spending on housing to a seasonally adjusted $378.5 billion, the highest level since March 2008.

Single-family home spending rose 1.3 percent with apartment spending up by 2.7 percent. The remodelling sector posted a 2.2 percent drop.

Spending on non-residential projects fell 0.1 percent, however spending on things like hotels, office buildings and shopping centres all showed improvements. Total construction spending is 8.6 percent higher than a year ago.