WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--US non-residential construction rose 1.3% in March from February, the [1]Commerce Department said on Thursday, marking the second consecutive monthly increase and suggesting that the sector may be recovering.

The department said that [2]construction spending on structures other than housing rose to a seasonally adjusted annual level of $672bn (?430bn) in March, up from $663bn in February.

February's measure of non-residential spending was up a slim 0.5% from January's level of $659.6bn, but it was seen as a welcome turnaround in a segment of the US construction industry that had recently been down.

For much of the [3]two-year continuing downturn in US residential construction, spending on non-residential work had largely been unaffected and remained a sustaining consuming sector for the country's chemical producers and other manufacturers.