The amount spent on public construction works during the year increased for the first time since 2009, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
Association officials said that the president’s budget proposal and suggested infrastructure funding programme should help construction spending continue to grow.
"For the first time in nearly a decade there was growth in all three major construction segments - public, private nonresidential and residential," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "If the president and Congress can work out a way to pay for long-term investments in our ageing infrastructure, there is a good chance this pattern will repeat in 2015."
Construction spending in December totaled US$982bn at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 0.4% higher than in November, 2.2% higher than in December 2013, and the highest monthly figure since December 2008, Simonson said. The full year total of US$961bn was up 5.6% from 2013 and was the highest full year amount since 2008.
"The hottest segments in 2014 as a whole were warehouses, which leaped 50%, and multi-family, which climbed 34%," Simonson added. "Both of these categories should do well again in 2015."
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