Spending on building decreases 0.1 percent

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

A sharp drop in commercial building projects caused a slight decline in construction spending in January. But the dip comes after previous figures were revised much higher.

Construction spending edged down 0.1 percent in January, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That is the first drop since July. It follows a 1.4 percent increase in December and a big rise of 1.9 percent in November. November’s figure was revised up from 0.4 percent.

Construction of factories, hotels and power plants all fell sharply in January, pushing down nonresidential construction by the most in a year. Government construction spending also fell. Federal construction spending dropped while state and local spending ticked up.

Spending on residential construction rose 1.8 percent, driven by a big gain in single-family home building.

Overall construction spending dipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $827 billion, down slightly from December.

Last month, December’s construction spending total was reported as $816.4 billion, but that was pushed up by the big revision to November’s figures. Large revisions to construction spending aren’t unusual.