Construction Spending Off 0.9% to $967.5 Billion

Spending on construction projects fell 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $967.5 billion in February, as private construction shrank  1.6% and public construction rose 0.8%, according to the Commerce Department.

The overall decrease, which was smaller than the 1.6% decrease projected by Thomson Reuters, followed a revised January level of $976.2 billion, a 3.5% decline from the month before, originally reported as a 3.3% decline to $986.2 billion.

Private construction spending fell 1.6% to $665.9 billion in February, up from a 4.0% decline in January to $676.9 billion, originally reported as a 3.7% drop to $682.6 billion. Total private construction was down 15.0% from February 2008.

Construction of new single-family homes fell 10.9% in the month, while multifamily construction slid 2.1%.

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