WASHINGTON - Construction spending fell 2.5% in December as the dollar amount of construction spending fell to the lowest level more than a decade, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
Private construction dropped 2.2%, reversing three consecutive monthly increases. Private residential construction plummeted 4.1%, the largest decline since August.
Economists expected construction spending would be flat in December, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters. Construction spending in November was revised to a 0.2% decline from a 0.4% gain previously reported.
The overall level of construction spending, $787.9 billion on a seasonally-adjusted basis in December, was the lowest since July 2000.
Government spending declined steeply for the month. Federal construction plunged 11.6%, the largest decline since October 2004. State and local spending fell 1.8%.
In 2010, total construction spending fell 10.3%, the fourth consecutive annual decline in construction spending. Construction spending fell 15.0% in 2009.
