FX.co ★ U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Edges Down 0.1% In May

A report released by the Commerce Department on Monday revealed an unexpected slight decrease in U.S. construction spending for May.

The Commerce Department indicated construction spending slipped by 0.1 percent, bringing the annual rate down to $2.140 trillion in May. This follows a 0.3 percent increase to a revised rate of $2.142 trillion in April.

Economists had anticipated a 0.1 percent rise in construction spending, countering the initially reported 0.1 percent decline from the previous month.

The unexpected downturn in construction spending was primarily due to a 0.3 percent drop in private construction, resulting in an annual rate of $1.652 trillion.

Residential construction spending decreased by 0.2 percent to an annual rate of $918.2 billion, while non-residential construction spending fell by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $733.9 billion.

Conversely, spending on public construction showed an increase of 0.5 percent, reaching an annual rate of $487.6 billion. This rise was driven by an uptick in educational construction spending, which compensated for a decrease in highway construction spending.