U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Falls 0.5% In March

(RTTNews) - Construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of March, the Commerce Department revealed in a report released on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said construction spending fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $2.196 trillion in March after climbing by 0.6 percent to a revised rate of $2.207 trillion in February.

Economists had expected construction spending to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected pullback by construction spending partly reflected a decline in spending on private construction, which slid by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $1.688 trillion.

Spending on residential construction fell by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $937.7 billion, while spending on non-residential construction slumped by 0.8 percent to an annual rate of $750.3 billion.

The report also showed a modest decrease in spending on public construction, which dipped by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $508.1 billion.

While spending on educational construction decreased by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $110.0 billion, spending on highway construction slid by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $145.8 billion.