Construction Spending Down in March Compared With February

Construction spending in March was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $966.6 billion, 0.6 percent below the February rate of $972.9 billion and 2 percent higher than the March 2014 rate of $947.3 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Construction spending in the first three months of the year totaled $206.7 billion, a 3.2 percent increase compared with the $200.4 billion spent during the same period last year.

Private construction in March was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $702.4 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the February figure of $704.7 billion.

Residential construction dipped 1.6 percent to a rate of $349 billion in March compared with February’s $354.6 billion.