Construction spending slowed in November, disappointing economists’ expectations.
The rate of annual spending on construction fell by 0.3 percent from October to November, the Department of Commerce reported Friday. The consensus was for spending to grow by about 0.5 percent.
Adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, the U.S. was on pace for $975 billion in total construction spending in 2014 in November.
Construction spending was still up through the first 11 months of this year, however, at $884.6 billion. That is 5.7 percent more than $836.9 billion for the same time span in 2013.
The slowdown in construction in November came from the public sector, led by a dropoff in education spending. Government construction spending slowed across a number of sectors, including healthcare, power and conservation projects.
In total, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending slowed from 282,003 in October to 277,266 in November.
The private-sector construction numbers were better, with November’s report showing the U.S. on pace for $697.7 billion of spending, 0.3 percent more than anticipated in October.
That growth was attributable to housing building. Non-housing construction was down by 0.3 percent.
The Commerce Department data on construction are an estimate of total spending and are subject to revision in future months.
