Spending on construction projects fell 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.078 trillion in November, as private construction decreased 1.5% and public construction rose 1.4%, according to Commerce Department figures released yesterday.
The decrease, which was smaller than the 1.3% slide projected by Thomson Reuters, followed a revised October level of $1.085 trillion, a 0.4% decline from September, originally reported as a 1.2% decline to $1.073 trillion.
Spending on private construction fell 1.5% to $756.4 billion in November, following a 1.2% decrease in October to $767.7 billion. Private construction was down 7.4% from November 2007.
Construction of new single-family homes fell 6.6% in the month, while multifamily construction slid 1.8%.