AGC: March construction spending rose; bank lending still tight, Fed finds

Construction spending increased 0.3 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $970 billion, the Census Bureau reported on Monday. The total was down 11 percent from March 2008. Private residential construction fell 4.1 percent for the month and 33 percent from a year earlier, private nonresidential rose 2.7 percent and 1.2 percent  and public construction rose 1.1 percent and 2.6 percent. The totals probably do not include any spending of federal stimulus funds, which is not likely to show up as construction put in place before May given the steps required, even after an agency announces a project, according to a May 5 Data DIGest report.

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