Construction Spending Sinks in June

Construction spending in June came to an estimated annual rate of $883.9 billion, the ""Census Bureau"":http://www.census.gov/ reported Thursday. June's spending was 0.6 percent below the revised May estimate of $889.4 billion but 3.3 percent above the June 2012 figure of $855.8 billion.

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For the first six months of the year, construction spending amounted to $408.5 billion, a 5.1 percent increase above the $388.8 billion for the same period in 2012.

Spending on private construction reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $622.8 billion in June, 0.4 percent below May's revised estimate and 9.7 percent above the same month last year.

Spending on residential construction in the private sector was at a pace of $332.1 billion, essentially flat from May and 18.1 percent above June 2012. Spending on new single-family homes was at $164.8 billion--down from $166.1 billion in May--while spending on multifamily construction was at about $31.0 billion, down from $32.0 billion.

On the public side, construction spending was at a pace of $261.1 billion, 1.1 percent below May. Spending on residential construction was at an annual rate of $6.1 billion.