Bloomberg reported capital spending at U.S. companies is at the highest level since 2008 as expenditures for plants, property and equipment rose 24% to $43.3 billion in the third quarter for 140 non-financial companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 that had released such data as of Nov. 4.

Annual capital spending for S&P 500 companies had declined significantly during the recession that began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. The $149 billion in expenditures year-to-date for the 140 companies surveyed exceeds the $146 billion that the same companies spent in 2010, but is still short of the $169 billion peak recorded for 2008.
 
Corporate investment in equipment and software climbed at a 17.4% annual pace in the third quarter.