Construction Spending Slips 1.1% to $1.140 Trillion

Spending on construction projects fell 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.140 trillion in December as private construction decreased 1.0%, and public construction slid 1.5%, according to Commerce Department figures released Friday.

The overall decrease, which was larger than the 0.5% decrease projected by IFR Markets, followed an unrevised November decrease of 0.4% to a level of $1.153 trillion.

Spending on total private construction slid 1.0% to $842.4 billion in December, compared with a 1.0% decrease in November to $850.8 billion. Total private construction was down 6.1% from December 2006.

Construction of new single-family homes fell 5.4% in the month, while multifamily construction dropped 1.9%.

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