November Construction Spending Falls A Little More Than Expected

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Monday morning, the Commerce Department released its report on construction spending in the month of November, showing that spending on new construction fell by a little more than economists had been anticipating amid decreases in spending on both private and public construction.

The report showed that construction spending fell 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $900.1 billion in November from the revised October estimate of $905.6 billion. Economists had been expecting spending to decrease by about 0.5 percent.

With the slightly bigger than expected monthly decrease, construction spending in November was down 13.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

The Commerce Department said spending on private construction fell 0.7 percent in November, with the decrease largely due to a 1.6 percent drop in spending on residential construction. Spending on non-residential construction was nearly unchanged.

Additionally, the report showed that spending on public construction fell by 0.4 percent, as spending on highway construction plunged by 2.9 percent and spending on educational construction edged down by 0.1 percent.

In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of activity in the manufacturing sector jumped to 55.9 in December from 53.6 in November, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. Economists had been expecting the index to increase to a reading of 54.3.

With the bigger than expected increase, the manufacturing index rose to its highest level since April of 2006, when it came in at 56.0.

Monday morning, the Commerce Department released its report on construction spending in the month of November, showing that spending on new construction fell by a little more than economists had been anticipating amid decreases in spending on both private and public construction. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)