US Construction Spending Fell 0.2% In July
WASHINGTON, Sept 1 2009 (Reuters) - Total U.S. construction spending fell 0.2
percent in July to the lowest rate since February 2004, Commerce Department
data showed on Tuesday, despite residential construction making its biggest
gain since September and federal building reaching a record pace.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected construction spending to remain
unchanged from June. June's rise was revised down to 0.1 percent from the
originally reported 0.3 percent.
Private residential construction increased 2.3 percent in July after dropping
0.5 percent in June. It was the largest rise since last September, when it
increased 3 percent.
With a hefty push from the U.S. economic stimulus plan, federal building rose
0.8 percent to a record $29.57 billion seasonally adjusted annual rate. Still,
that was not enough to keep all public construction from decreasing 0.7 percent
in its first monthly decline since January
