Construction Spending in U.S. Rose in April for a Second Month [View all]

[Purveyor]

By Shobhana Chandra - 2012-06-01T14:00:00Z

Construction spending in the U.S. rose in April for a second month, helped by a surge in housing.

The 0.3 percent gain followed a matching increase in March that was revised higher than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.4 percent rise.

Cheaper properties and low borrowing costs are lifting orders at homebuilders like Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL), a sign the industry that helped trigger the recession is improving. At the same time, foreclosures remain a restraint on housing, and commercial construction is unlikely to pick up until growth accelerates.

“There’s a modest uptick in demand” for homes, Michael Gapen, a senior U.S. economist at Barclays Plc in New York, said before the report. “The housing recovery should broaden out this year. We’re coming off the bottom.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/construction-spending-in-u-s-rose-in-april-for-a-second-month.html