Construction spending in the United States declined by 0.3 percent in June, the weakest showing since January this year, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
The decline left construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.175 trillion U.S. dollars, down 2.4 percent from the same month last year. Analysts had been expecting a 0.2 percent rise for June.
For June, spending on private construction dropped by 0.3 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890.9 billion dollars.
Of that, residential construction was down 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544.3 billion dollars, marking the 16th straight month in which spending declined.
Non-residential construction spending, such as offices, hotels, motels and schools, however, rose by 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 346.6 billion dollars, setting a record.
Construction spending by the government was 284.6 billion dollars in June, nearly the same as the revised May estimate of 284.4 billion dollars.
Education construction declined by 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 80 billion dollars. Highway construction plunged by 1.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 75 billion dollars.
Construction spending amounted to 550 billion dollars in the first half of this year, 3.5 percent below the level a year ago.
The ongoing adjustment in the U.S. housing market is likely to linger through the rest of this year, analysts say.
Source: Xinhua
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