WASHINGTON - Construction spending fell 1.2% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $902.5 billion, more than twice the median economist estimate, as a record high in federal construction spending did not offset declines in private construction, the Commerce Department reported today.
Private and public construction each fell 1.2%. Private residential construction declined 2.8%, the steepest drop since May. Nonresidential construction increased 0.2%, the largest gain since March.
Federal construction increased 2.0% and reached $30.5 billion, the highest dollar amount on record for comparable data dating back to 1993. State and local spending dropped 1.5%.
Economists expected construction spending to fall 0.5% in December, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Total construction spending for November was revised lower to a 1.2% decline from a 0.6% decline initially reported. Spending for October was revised higher to a 1.5% increase from a 0.5% decline reported last month. It was the first construction spending increase since April 2009.
For all of 2009, construction spending fell 12.4%, the largest annual decline since the data series began in 1964.
