U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Falls 0.5% In July

(RTTNews) - Partly reflecting a steep drop in spending on residential construction, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of July.

The report said construction spending fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $2.158 trillion in July after coming in virtually unchanged at a revised rate of $2.168 trillion in June.

Economists had expected construction spending to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

The report said spending in private construction slid by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $1.614 trillion in July from a revised rate of $1.623 trillion in June.

Spending on residential construction led the way lower, tumbling by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of $859.0, while spending on non-residential construction rose by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $755.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the report said spending on public construction slipped by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $543.4 billion in July from a revised rate of $544.7 billion in June.

Spending on both educational construction and highway construction dipped by 0.2 percent to annual rates of $112.3 billion and $150.3 billion, respectively.