Home building in nation hits all-time high

Construction spending rose by 0.3 percent in November, the third consecutive monthly increase, as low interest rates propelled home building to an all-time high, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Spending on construction projects totaled $843.2 billion at an annual rate in November, up from an annual rate of $840.5 billion in October.

The November performance was led by a 0.9 percent jump in spending on residential construction, which rose to a record level of $421.1 billion at an annual rate.

Above, a worker on Friday crosses the site of new housing construction in Philadelphia.

Wall Street: Markets up for the week

A profit warning from Home Depot halted the new year’s rally on Wall Street, leaving stocks narrowly mixed Friday amid concerns about consumer spending. But the market’s major indicators ended the week with healthy gains.

Analysts were heartened that despite Home Depot’s warning, the market’s declines were modest.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 5.83 on Friday. For the week, the Dow rose 3.6 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 2.9 percent and the S&P advanced 3.8 percent.

Telecommunications: Sprint completes sale

Sprint Corp. on Friday announced it has completed the sale of its profitable phone book business to R.H. Donnelley for $2.23 billion.

Sprint said the sale of Sprint Publishing, the nation’s sixth-largest directory publisher, would improve the company’s financial flexibility and further strengthen its balance sheet.

R.H. Donnelley, based in Purchase, N.Y., will continue operating the business, which includes 260 white and yellow page directories, from Sprint Publishing’s current headquarters in Overland Park.

Entertainment: Disney sues Blockbuster

Walt Disney Co. has sued Blockbuster Inc., claiming the nation’s largest movie rental business cheated it out of more than $120 million. Blockbuster’s attorney said the suit was baseless.

The breach-of-contract suit, filed Tuesday in federal court on behalf of Disney’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, claims Blockbuster used shady accounting, sold videotapes prematurely and failed to account for hundreds of thousands of missing videotapes under a 1997 revenue-sharing agreement. Blockbuster ended the agreement at the end of 2001.

An attorney for Blockbuster disputed the claims Friday. He contended that Disney was trying to divert attention from recent corporate problems.