Construction spending climbed 1.8% in January on a year-over-year basis, to an annual rate of $971.4 billion, but it was down 1.1% from December's total, the Commerce Dept. has reported.

The latest monthly report on the value of finished construction projects, which Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau released on March 2, also showed that January’s private construction rose 0.5% from its year-earlier level, to a $697.6-billion annual rate, but slipped 0.5% from December’s level.