The Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that U.S. construction spending modestly declined in March, largely due to a drop in private construction expenditure.
According to the report, construction spending in March fell by 0.2% to an annual rate of $2.084 trillion, a result that defies economists' expectations of a 0.3% rise. The data for February was revised to show no change in construction spending, rather than the previously reported 0.3% decrease.
Private construction spending contributed significantly to the dip in March, sliding 0.5% to an annual rate of $1.601 trillion. Within the private sector, residential construction saw a decrease of 0.7% with an annual spending rate of $884.3 billion and non-residential construction slipped by 0.2% to a rate of $716.5 billion.
Conversely, public sector construction spending showed an opposite trend with an increase of 0.8% to an annual rate of $483.1 billion. A 1.0% rise brought educational construction spending to an annual rate of $102.7 billion, while highway construction spending went up by 0.9% to an annual rate of $149.0 billion.
