With spending on both private and public construction falling rather sharply, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday unexpectedly showing a steep drop in total U.S. construction spending in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said construction spending tumbled by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $1.134 trillion in April from a revised $1.155 trillion in March.
The revised estimate for March reflected a 1.5 percent jump versus the previously reported 0.3 percent increase.
The sharp pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected construction spending to rise by about 0.6 percent.
Despite the monthly decrease, the April figure is up by 4.5 percent compared to $1.085 trillion in the same month a year ago.
The unexpected decline versus the previous month was partly due to a significant decrease in spending on private construction, which fell by 1.5 percent to a rate of $843.1 billion.
Spending on both residential and non-residential construction slumped by 1.5 percent to rates of $439.7 billion and $403.5 billion, respectively.
The report also showed that spending on public construction plunged by 2.8 percent to a rate of $290.8 billion, partly reflecting a steep 6.6 percent drop in spending on highway construction.
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Forex News
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.