The construction spending in the United States hit an all-time high in November as high government spending offset a slight dip in home building, the Commerce Department said in a report Tuesday.

The report said that total U.S. construction spending increased to a record high of an annual rate of 1.146 trillion dollars in November, up 0.2 percent from the October pace.

Private nonresidential construction, seen as a proxy for business confidence, rose 0.6 percent. However, private residential construction spending declined slightly in the month, leaving it unchanged on a percentage basis from October. That marked the first time since June 2005 that U.S. private residential construction spending has not increased.

Some analysts said that it was a sign that the five-year rally in the U.S. housing market has started to slow.

In the first 11 months of 2005, U.S. construction spending is nine percent above the pace set in 2004 as a boom in housing helped to push construction activity to record levels.

Source: Xinhua