Construction spending slides

Spending on residential construction projects in July fell 27.5 percent from a year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of private residential construction was $357.8 billion in July, compared with $493.6 billion a year earlier, and was down 2.3 percent from $366.1 billion in June. Spending has fallen in each of the last 17 months.

Total construction spending, which includes residential, commercial, highways, schools, hotels and government buildings, sank 4.8 percent year-over-year in July, from $1.14 billion to $1.08 billion, and was down 0.6 percent from $1.09 billion in June. This rate is a projection of a monthly construction total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for typical seasonal fluctuations in construction activity.

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