WASHINGTON — Construction spending fell 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted estimated annual rate of $883.3 billion in January, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The January rate decreased from a revised December estimate of $902.6 billion, originally reported as $884.9 billion. The monthly decline was the sharpest since a 3% drop reported in July 2011, but the January mark was still 7.1% above the $824.7 billion estimate for the same month one year ago.
The deceleration in the annual rate stood in contrast to the median 0.4% increase projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Public construction spending declined 1% to a $269 billion annual rate, from the revised December figure of $271.7 billion. The January rate represents the lowest public construction figure since a $260.6 billion rate in November 2006.
State and local construction spending dropped 1% to $244.4 billion, while Federal construction spending dropped 1.3% to a $24.6 billion annual rate. Highway construction spending increased 0.9%.
Spending on private construction dropped 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted estimated rate of $614.2 billion in January, from $630.9 billion the previous month. Private residential construction was virtually unchanged from the prior month, while nonresidential construction fell 5.1% from December.
