U.S. Construction Spending Dips In Line With Estimates In October

The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showed U.S. construction spending decreased in line with economist estimates in the month of October.

The report said construction spending fell by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.795 trillion in October after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of $1.800 trillion in September.

Economists had expected construction spending to dip by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The modest decrease in construction spending reflected a pullback in spending on private sector construction, which slid by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $1.420 trillion.

Spending on residential construction fell by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $887.2 billion, while spending on non-residential construction slumped by 0.8 percent to an annual rate of $533.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said spending on public construction climbed by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $374.6 billion, reflecting an increase in spending on educational construction.