Construction spending exceeded expectations in November, growing 1.2 percent.

Construction spending in November exceeded economists’ predictions and rose 1.2 percent from October to $807.1 billion, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce.

All in all, construction spending was positive across the board: residential construction was up by 2 percent to $238.9 billion, private construction was up 1 percent to $522.3 billion and public construction rose by 1.7 percent to $284.9 billion. Even education construction and highway construction increased by 0.5 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

The data contradicts a survey conducted by Bloomberg, in which some economists predicted spending to decrease by as much as 0.6 percent.

In Bloomberg’s article, Russel Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial, said he sees the recent construction data as a new trend.

“Residential construction and even business construction have been favorable,” Price said, in anticipation of the data. “I expect that to continue.”

This is the second straight release of positive construction data from Census Bureau; just three weeks ago, the agency released information on construction projects that was equally, if not more, promising.

The Census Bureau reported that not only had housing starts increased 9.3 percent from October to November and 24.3 percent year-over-year, but permits and completions were also up, posting respective monthly gains of 5.7 percent and 5.6 percent and year-over-year increases of 20.7 percent and 1.6 percent.