Homebuilders spent more on construction in November last year than in any month before August, with figures for new residences climbing by 1.2 percent above October estimates.

Fielding the numbers Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that construction spending overall hovered at around $807.1 billion – figures that the Washington Post said economists argue fall below more than a trillion dollars in output needed to stimulate the economy.

Private residential construction topped off at $243.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in November, 2 percent above revisions from October which ball-parked figures around $238.9 billion.

Single-family home construction moved forward at a steady clip by rising 1.5 percent, with nonresidential construction

staying nearly the same as in October with about $278 billion or so in reported expenditures.

Multifamily construction fell below single-family homes by rising only 1.3 percent – a number with uncertain meaning as interest in rental properties remains historically high for the nation.

Experts suggested in past interviews with MReport that high unemployment numbers and still-anemic job growth help keep consumer confidence in the doldrums, leading more otherwise eligible first-time and repeat homebuyers to scrimp on a mortgage in favor of a leasing contract.

Past reports from the National Association of Realtors also lean toward scuttled appraisals and contract bids, which often help interrupt pending-home sales and homeowners in the process of closing on properties.

The Post said that new homes offer to create a tremendous impact in a still-weak economy, with each new home capable of generating three jobs on average each year and $90,000 in tax revenue for state and federal coffers.

The latest construction figures from November follow a tide of eleventh-hour good news from the industry as a whole.

Just before the holidays, the Commerce Department reported that new single-family home sales inched forward by 1.6 percent in November, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 units.