U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Pulls Back Modestly In January

A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in U.S. construction spending in the month of January.

The Commerce Department said construction spending slipped by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $2.102 trillion in January after jumping by 1.1 percent to a revised rate of $2.106 trillion in December.

The pullback surprised economists, who had expected construction spending to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected dip reflected a notable decrease in spending on public construction, which slid by 0.9 percent to an annual rate of $479.0 billion.

Spending on highway construction plunged by 2.1 percent to a rate of $150.1 billion, while spending on educational construction fell by 0.7 percent to a rate of $101.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said spending on private construction inched up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $1.623 trillion.

Spending on residential construction crept up by 0.2 percent to a rate of $900.8 billion, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent dip in spending on non-residential construction to a rate of $722.6 billion.