U.S. Construction Spending Dips 0.1% In February, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - After reporting a steep drop in U.S. construction spending in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing that spending saw some further downside in the month of February.

The report said construction spending edged down 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $967.2 billion in February after tumbling 1.7 percent to a revised $967.9 billion in January. The modest drop in spending came in line with economist estimates.

Spending on public construction showed a notable decrease during the month, falling by 0.8 percent to $268.9 billion in February from $271.0 billion in January.

While spending on state and local construction tumbled by 1.6 percent to $245.3 billion, spending on federal construction surged up by 9.0 percent to $23.6 billion.

Meanwhile, the report said spending on private construction edged up by 0.2 percent to $698.2 billion in February from $696.9 billion in January.

Spending on residential construction dipped by 0.2 percent to $349.9 billion, while spending on non-residential construction rose by 0.5 percent to $348.4 billion.

Despite the monthly decrease, the Commerce Department noted that the annual rate of construction spending in February is up by 2.1 percent compared to the same month a year ago.