Construction spending up 6.2 percent in first five months of 2013 WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- Construction spending rose slightly April to May and is up for the first five months of the year, the U.S. Census Bureau News reported Monday. Total construction spending in April was revised higher from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion to $870.3 billion. In May spending rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $874.9 billion, a 0.5 percent increase, the bureau said. In May, spending on private-sector projects totaled $605.4 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis, not far below the revised $605.7 billion for April. In the month, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $322.3 billion was spent on residential projects, a 1.2 percent climb from April's revised rate of $318.5. Private spending on commercial projects came to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $283.1 billion in May, 1.4 percent below the revised April estimate of $287.1 billion. The estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending in May was $269.5 billion, 1.8 percent higher than the revised April estimate of $264.7 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $60.4 billion, up 0.4 percent from April's revised rate of $60.1 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $78.3 billion, up 0.8 percent from April's revised estimate of $77.7 billion, the department said. For the first five months of the year, construction spending totaled $326.2 billion, a 6.2 percent increase over the estimated $307 billion spent January through May in 2012, the department said.