U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Sees Further Downside In February

(RTTNews) - Construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.

The report said construction spending dipped by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $2.091 trillion in February after edging down by 0.2 percent to a revised rate of $2.097 trillion in January.

The continued decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected construction spending to climb by 0.6 percent during the month.

The unexpected decline largely reflected a steep drop in spending on public construction, which slumped by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $474.4 billion.

Spending on educational construction plunged by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $100.5 billion, while spending on highway construction tumbled by 1.6 percent to a rate of $147.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said spending on private construction in February came in at an annual rate of $1.617 trillion, virtually unchanged from the revised January estimate.

While spending on residential construction climbed by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $901.1 billion, spending on non-residential construction slid by 0.9 percent to a rate of $716.0 billion.