Construction spending across the United States rose 1.1 percent in October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, continuing an upward trend for the year.
Total construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $971 billion in October. The increase was nearly double the 0.6-percent prediction from analysts polled by Yahoo Finance.
During the first 10 months of the year, construction spending totaled $800.6 billion, 5.8 percent above the $756.5 billion for the same period in 2013.
Private construction for October came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $692.4 billion, 0.6 percent above September, with residential construction accounting for $353.8 billion.
Meanwhile, public construction reached a seasonally adjusted rate of $278.6 billion, an increase of 2.3 percent over September. Education construction was up 2.2 percent to $64.5 billion, while highway construction increased 1.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of $82 billion.
