Construction spending was down 1.3% in June, with a 0.1% decline in private construction and a steep 5.4% drop in public construction, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday morning showed.
Analysts had expected construction spending to rise 0.4% after a flat reading for May. With the latest data, May construction was revised to a 0.3% increase, while April spending was revised down to a 1.8% decrease from the 0.7% drop previously reported.
Private residential construction spending fell 0.2% in the month, with new home building dropping 0.3% based on an MNI calculation. Single-family building rose 0.3%, while multi-family building saw a sharp decrease of 2.9%. Construction excluding new homes, which captures remodelling was unchanged, following drops in both May and April.
Private nonresidential construction was up 0.1% in June. There were gains in office, health care, educational, recreation, and communication that more than offset declines in commercial, religious, transportation, power, and manufacturing.
Public construction saw a significant 5.4% drop in June. State and local government spending, the much larger portion of public construction, was down 5.1% after a 1.4% increase in May, while Federal government construction saw a steep decline of 9.3% in June after a 7.6% rise in May.
