The hires rate in construction jumped to 7.3 percent in September from 5.6 percent in August and 5.9 percent in September 2010.

The producer price index for inputs to construction industries - a weighted average of the price of all goods used in every type of construction, plus items consumed by contractors, such as diesel fuel - was flat for September but up 8.1 percent over the September 2010 level.

The pickup for total construction in August was the result of greater activity for each of construction’s three main sectors - nonresidential building [7 percent], residential building [4 percent] and nonbuilding construction [13 percent]. For the first eight months of 2011, total construction on an unadjusted basis was down 6 percent from the same period a year ago.

"Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts indicated that economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some districts noted mixed or weakening activity," the Fed reported.

Construction spending totaled $772 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in June, up 0.2 percent from the rate in May but down 4.7 percent from June 2010, the Census Bureau reported Aug. 1.

Construction spending in May totaled $753 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the sixth consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest figure since 1999, the Census Bureau reported July 1.

The PPI for inputs to construction industries - a blend of all materials used in every type of construction, plus items consumed by contractors such as diesel fuel - rose 1.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.

Construction employment rose by 33,000, the largest gain in nearly four years, but much of the increase may have represented catch-up from a weather-exacerbated drop of 22,000 jobs in January.

Construction employment fell by 53,500 (-0.9 percent), accounting for more than 60 percent of total losses for December 2009, and by 934,000 (14 percent) for the year.

Construction spending fell 0.6 percent in November 2009 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $900 billion, down 13 percent from November 2008 and the lowest total in six years.