Homebuilding leads increase in spending

WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects increased 0.9 percent in November as strength in homebuilding offset weakness in other parts of the construction industry.

The November gain followed a bigger 1.6 percent rise in October and left construction spending up 4.4 percent through the first 11 months of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the Commerce Department.

For November, spending on residential construction rose 2.7 percent, with single-family construction surging 5.1 percent while apartment construction was flat, new data released Monday shows. Record-low mortgage rates have spurred strong demand for housing even as a global pandemic resulted in widespread lockdowns for other parts of the economy.

While housing activity, fueled by low supplies of available homes, stands 16.1 percent higher than it did a year ago, spending on private nonresidential projects is 9.5 percent below the levels of a year ago, with hotel and motel construction down 26.5 percent from the level in November 2019 and office construction down 6.6 percent.