WASHINGTON - Construction spending fell 1.4% on a seasonally adjusted annual rate in February as the level of total spending dropped to the lowest amount since October 1999, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Spending in January was revised lower to a drop of 1.8% from a drop of 0.7% reported last month. Total construction spending has declined for three straight months.
There was $760.6 billion spent on construction in February, the lowest level in more than 11 years. The level of private construction spending, $468.0 billion, was the lowest since April 1997.
Private construction declined 1.4% while private nonresidential construction increased 0.9% for the month.
Economists expected construction spending would fall 0.3%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
