US construction spending down 0.9% in May

US construction spending down 0.9% in May
02 July 2009


US construction spending fell by 0.9 per cent in May, the seventh decrease in the past eight months, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
 
The decrease was worse than analysts’ expectation of 0.5 per cent. The drop followed a revised 0.6 per cent increase in the previous month.
 
For May, US construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$964bn, with a 11.6 per cent YoY decrease, reflecting the steepness of recession in the country.
 
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$649.2bn, one per cent below the revised April estimate of US$655.6bn.
 
Meanwhile, construction spending by the government decreased by 0.6 per cent to an annual rate of US$316.9bn.
 
The housing slump, which started in 2006 after five years of boom, is still underway due to tight credit markets, souring consumer confidence in the overall economy and rising unemployment.
 
Source: Aggregate Research
 
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