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Construction spending rose 0.9% in December, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The increase brought outlays to $885 billion and followed aÌý0.1% increase inÌýNovember that wasÌýlarger than previously estimated, Commerce said.

Economists had forecast a 0.7% increase, Bloomberg NewsÌýreported.

Private construction spending increased 2%, while home-building outlays rose 2.2% to $308.2 billion.

Public construction decreased 1.4% from the prior month.

For all of 2012, construction spending increased 9.2%, the first annual increase since 2009.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.