March Construction Spending Down 0.6%

Outlays for U.S. construction projects fell 0.6% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $967 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a drop of 0.5%, compared with an originally reported decrease of 0.1% in February. On Friday, the government revised February's result to show almost no change. Looking at private outlays in March, spending fell 1.6% for residential projects, and rose 1% for nonresidential projects. For overall public construction projects, spending fell 1.5%.