Construction Spending Dropped In January, But Multifamily Exploded
The Commerce Department announced U.S. construction spending fell 1% in January to mark the second straight month of declines.
January construction spending hit a seasonally adjusted rate of near $1.18 trillion, down from December’s $1.19 trillion but 3.1% above January 2016 levels, Construction Dive reports. Despite the overall decrease, single-family spending jumped 2.3% and multifamily spending was up 9% over the same period.
Experts said they are still hopeful 2017 will be a strong year for construction growth, pointing to President Donald Trump’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure plan and building the wall along the Mexican border as two anticipated sources of strong demand.