Construction Spending Rises 0.9% in May

Home building helped push May construction spending up 0.9 percent to $830.0 billion, the largest amount in five months, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce released today.

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $261.3 billion in May, 3.0 percent above the revised April estimate of $253.8 billion. Total spending on private construction, meanwhile, reached $560.4 billion in May, 1.6 percent above the revised April estimate of $551.8 billion.

Pointing to a string of recent good news for the housing industry, the Associated Press reported that the housing market is "gradually improving after struggling for the past five years."