U.S. Construction Spending Flat in May

Spending on construction across the U.S. was flat in May after declining a month earlier.

Total U.S. construction spending remained unchanged from the prior month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.230 trillion in May, the Commerce Department said Monday.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.3% increase in May. Spending for April was revised to a 0.7% decrease from a prior estimate of a 1.4% drop.

In the first five months of 2017, total spending rose 6.1% compared with the same period a year earlier. Private construction was up 9.0% from 2016, while public construction was down 3.5% year-to-date.

The Commerce Department's latest report on construction spending can be accessed at https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/release.pdf.

Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 03, 2017 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)