According to a report from the Commerce Department, construction expenditure in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased further in February. The document states that construction spending fell by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $2.091 trillion in February, following a slight decrease of 0.2 percent to an adjusted rate of $2.097 trillion in January.
This continued descent mystified financial experts, who had forecasted a rise of 0.6 percent in construction expenditure for the month. The unexpected decrease is largely attributed to a sharp fall in public construction spending, which plummeted by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $474.4 billion.
Education-related construction expenditure also fell drastically by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $100 billion. Similarly, highway construction spending fell by 1.6 percent to a rate of $147.3 billion.
In contrast, the Commerce Department reported that private construction spending in February remained virtually static at an annual rate of $1.617 trillion, compared to the revised estimate for January. Residential construction spending witnessed an uptick of 0.7 percent to an annual rate of $901.1 billion, while non-residential construction spending decreased by 0.9 percent to a rate of $716.0 billion.
