Construction Spending Falls Less Than Expected In April, Monday, June 02, 2008 10:54:15 AM

Monday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on construction spending in the month of April, showing that construction spending decreased by a little less than economists had been anticipating.

The report showed that construction spending fell 0.4 percent in April following a revised 0.6 percent decrease in March. Economists had expected spending to fall 0.6 percent compared to the 1.1 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

With the relatively modest monthly decrease, construction spending in April was down 3.9 percent compared to the same month last year.

The monthly decrease was partly due to a 0.5 percent drop in spending on private construction, which came as a 2.3 percent decrease in spending on residential construction more than offset a 1.6 percent increase in spending on non-residential construction.

Spending on public construction also saw some weakness in April, edging down 0.3 percent compared to the previous month. Spending on educational construction fell 0.3 percent, while spending on highway construction edged up 0.1 percent.

The Commerce Department added that construction spending totaled $331.6 billion in the first 4 months of the year, 2.8 percent below the $341.2 billion for the same period in 2007.