WASHINGTON - Construction spending was flat in May, with a 0.6% decline in private construction, but a 2.1% gain in public construction, data released by the Commerce Department Monday morning showed.
Analysts had expected construction spending to rise 0.1% after a 1.4% decrease previously reported for April. With the latest data, April construction was revised to 0.7% decrease from that 1.4% decline in the previous estimate, while March spending was revised down to a 0.3% increase from the 1.1% gain previously reported.
Private residential construction spending fell 0.6% in the month, with new home building dropping 0.9% based on an MNI calculation. Single-family building fell 0.3%, while multi-family building saw a sharp decrease of 3.3%. Construction excluding new homes, which captures remodeling saw a 0.1% decrease, following gains in April and March.
Private nonresidential construction was down 0.7% in May, a third straight decline. There were declines in lodging, commercial, healthcare, educational, transportation, communication, and manufacturing that more than offset a gain in office, religious, amusement and recreation, and power.
Public construction saw a 2.1% gain in May. State and local government spending, the much larger portion of public construction, was up 1.7% after a 2.7% decrease in April, while Federal government construction jumped 6.4% in May after a 2.1% drop in April.
