U.S. construction spending falls 0.8 percent in May

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Reuters

Markets | Fri Jul 1, 2016 10:04am EDT
U.S. construction spending falls 0.8 percent in May

U.S. construction spending fell for a second straight month in May after the biggest drop in more than five years in April, which could prompt economists to lower their second-quarter growth estimates.

Construction spending was down 0.8 percent after a downwardly revised 2.0 percent drop in April, the Commerce Department said on Friday. The revised April drop was the largest since January 2011.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending rising 0.6 percent after a previously reported April drop of 1.8 percent. May construction outlays were up 2.8 percent from a year earlier.

May construction spending was held down by a 2.3 percent drop in public construction spending. Outlays on state and local construction projects, the largest of the public sector segment, tumbled 3.0 percent, while federal construction spending rose 7.5 percent.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-construction-idUSKCN0ZH53Q

[forest444]

1. Real construction spending is, nonetheless, nearly one-fourth higher than in 2009.

Good to remember if one runs into any Rapepublicans that happened - by sheer chance - to have run into the above headline.

Having said that, it's troubling that economic growth has been slowing since last year. Manufacturing is in fact in a slight recession, and the stock market has been stuck in neutral for nearly two years now.

Some of that was expected, given how mature the recovery is this point; but could big business be deliberately causing a slowdown for the obvious (electoral) reasons?