WASHINGTON — Construction spending fell 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in May, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The decline follows a revised 0.6% drop in April. May construction was the sixth straight month of declines and brought spending to its lowest level since September 1999.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had a median estimate of no change for May construction.
Total private construction was reported down 0.4% for May, compared with a 0.4% revised increase in April.
Private residential construction fell 2.1% after a 2.9% rise in April. Single-family home building fell 0.3% and multifamily housing was down 2.1%.
Private business-related construction rose 1.2%, after a 1.8% drop in April.
Government construction overall was off 0.8%. Federal building rose 2.1%, but the key factor was a 1.2% drop in state and local projects.
Analysts had expected a decline because of continuing state and local spending cuts.
Some economists had warned that both residential and non-residential construction could be hurt by the severe storms and flooding in the Midwest and South.
