With a drop in spending on public construction partly offsetting an increase in spending on private construction, the Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing a smaller than expected increase in total construction spending in the month of April.
The report said construction spending rose by 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion in April from the revised March estimate of $857.7 billion. Economists had been expecting spending to increase by about 1.0 percent.
While the monthly growth fell short of estimates, the Commerce Department noted that construction spending in April is up by 4.3 percent compared to the $825.1 billion reported for the same month a year ago.
Spending on private construction rose by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of $602.0 billion in April from the revised March estimate of $595.9 billion.
Non-residential construction spending jumped by 2.2 percent, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent drop in spending on residential construction.
Meanwhile, the report said spending on public construction fell by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $258.8 billion in April from the revised March estimate of $261.8 billion.
Spending on state and local construction slid by 1.3 percent, while spending on federal construction edged down by 0.1 percent.
The Commerce Department also said spending on educational construction tumbled by 4.4 percent, more than offsetting a 0.5 percent increase in spending on highway construction.
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