Spending unexpectedly hits eight-month peak after five consecutive monthly falls

The American construction market has shown early signs of recovery as spending hit its highest point for eight months.

Spending on construction projects in the US rose 0.8% in April from March, the largest rise since last August. In April a year ago, construction spending in the US was down 10.7% from the month before.

Surprisingly, the percentage rise has been boosted by the private sector, in which construction spending rose by 1.4% during the month of April. Private residential construction rose by 0.7%.

Economists had forecast a 1.2% drop in construction spending for April. Before March, spending had fallen for five months in a row. However, some pointed to an 8.9% spike in the volatile home improvements sector as a contributing factor to the unexpected rise in overall spending.

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