WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending increased 1.4% in August, led by a surge in single-family homes.

© Provided by Associated Press
A new home under construction is shown Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Houston. U.S. construction spending increased 1.4% in August, led by a surge in spending on single-family homes. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The gain was double the 0.7% increase in July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, and the August gain was better than economists had been expecting. In an additional sign of strength, the government revised higher its earlier estimates for spending in July and June.

Spending on residential construction rose 3.7% ,with a 5.5% rise in spending on single-family homes offsetting a 0.1% dip in apartment construction, a smaller an more volatile sector.

Video: Weakened home affordability could impact urban flight (CNBC)

Weakened home affordability could impact urban flight

Click to expand

UP NEXT

Spending on

Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make smart decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, like American Express, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

When the pandemic-related stay-at-home orders went into effect in March, we lost a part of our income. But our spending dropped, too, so we didn’t feel the need to worry about our finances at first. 

We thought the loss of some of our income was temporary and that things would get back to normal much sooner than they have. But of course, that hasn’t proven to be true. Luckily, we’ve been able to keep our grocery spending in check. In fact, we have found that we spend the same amount on groceries as we did pre-COVID, although we are now eating three meals a day, seven days a week at

Text size

Lowe’s

stock has jumped some 35% in 2020, as demand booms amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Loop Capital argues the shares could see another 20% gain, as consumers continue to pour money into their homes.

Analyst Laura Champine reiterated a Buy rating on Lowe’s (ticker: LOW) shares Wednesday, while raising her price target to $195 from $180.

Paul Brandus, Opinion columnist
Published 5:00 a.m. ET Sept. 22, 2020

Millions must choose between working at home while watching the kids and helping them with school, or giving up the job, the paycheck and the career.

We’ve reached 200,000 Americans dead of COVID-19 in eight months — nearly half the U.S. death toll in World War II, which lasted over 45 months for America. As if that isn’t awful enough, damage from the pandemic keeps piling up in other ruinous ways. It’s all connected, meaning that one bad thing can make something else worse.  

Case in point: With schools now underway, 4.3 million workers might have to quit their jobs to take care of children learning from home. That’s according to research by Brevan Howard, an asset management firm, which says if these workers were counted as unemployed, they’d add 2.6 percentage points to the unemployment rate, standing at

© Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison has long championed revamping the company’s e-commerce capabilities. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

• According to Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison, the company has invested extensively in e-commerce since he took the helm in 2018.
• That e-commerce overhaul — which saw the company prioritize its new store app and a shift to the cloud — couldn’t have happened at a better time.
• The coronavirus pandemic has seen consumers rely heavily on online shopping, as many look to complete projects around their homes.
• Ellison and Lowe’s CFO David Denton spoke Wednesday at the annual Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Virtual Conference.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Lowe’s’ long-awaited e-commerce revamp came at just the right time for the company to reap the rewards of the surge in home improvement spending during the coronavirus pandemic, according to CEO Marvin Ellison.

Load Error

Upon taking the helm of

• Insider Intelligence publishes thousands of research reports, charts, and forecasts on the Media, Advertising, and Marketing industry. You can learn more about becoming a client here.
• The following is a preview of the US Digital Out-of-Home Ad Spending 2020 report.

LONDON (Reuters) – British consumers increased their spending again in August as they went on “staycation” holidays, bought equipment for working from home and went back to shops to buy clothes, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Barclaycard said its measure of spending rose in annual terms for the first time since before the lockdown, up 0.2% year-on-year as people bought more fuel to go on holiday in Britain and to begin returning to their workplaces.

There was also an increase in spending in restaurants, pubs and bars as diners took advantage of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out” discount scheme that run during August.

The overall increase was the first since February. Spending on clothing rose for

(Reuters) – Lowe’s Cos Inc (LOW.N) blew past analysts’ estimates for quarterly sales and profit on Wednesday as it benefited from a surge in demand for paint, tools and barbecue grills from consumers stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company also posted a 34.2% rise in quarterly same-store sales, beating analysts’ estimates for a 13.2% increase, and said the sales momentum was carrying into August, although it would likely taper off in later months.

With a large base of do-it-yourself customers, Lowe’s has been among the chief beneficiaries of people undertaking minor home repair, painting or gardening work during the crisis.

That helped the company’s same-store sales far outpace those of larger rival Home Depot Inc (HD.N), which relies more on demand from handymen and professional contractors, whose businesses have only recently started to pick up.

Wedbush Securities analysts estimate that nearly 75%

Lawnmowers priced at $3,000 are atypical bestsellers in recessions. But sales of the Ariens Ikon XD, featuring 20-inch tires, a V-twin Kawasaki engine and ergonomic plush seat, have surged in the U.S. during the pandemic.

While other industries grapple with a shaky economy, the home improvement business is booming. Home Depot and Lowe’s last week reported historically large rises in quarterly revenues as housebound Americans spend billions of dollars more than usual at the two go-to chains for DIY.

“Most of us are forced to spend more time at home than we ever have in our lifetimes,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chief executive, presenting a 34% jump in like-for-like sales. Customers had been “finding projects around the house” that they either “hadn’t had a chance to get to” or “just didn’t notice” before the lockdown.

Craig Menear, chairman and chief executive of Home Depot, said the pandemic had meant “the