U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Dips 0.3% In November

(RTTNews) - Construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

The Commerce Department said construction spending fell 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $975.0 billion in November from the revised October estimate of $977.7 billion.

The drop in construction spending came as a surprise to economists, who had expected spending to increase by about 0.5 percent.

The unexpected decrease was primarily due to steep drop in spending on public construction, which tumbled by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $277.3 billion.

Spending on federal construction plunged by 6.0 percent to $23.5 billion, while spending on state and local construction slid by 1.3 percent to $253.7 billion.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department said spending on private construction rose by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $697.7 billion.

The report said spending on residential construction climbed by 0.9 percent to $352.7 billion, more than offsetting a 0.3 percent drop in spending on non-residential construction, which fell to $345.0 billion.

Despite the monthly decrease, the Commerce Department noted that construction spending in November was up by 2.4 percent compared to the same month a year ago.