Construction spending rate hits seven-month low
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Construction spending dropped to a seven-month low in March as public outlays recorded their largest drop since 2006, which could cause the first-quarter economic growth estimate to be trimmed.
Construction spending fell 1.7 percent to an annual rate of $856.72 billion, the lowest level since August, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. Spending had increased 1.5 percent in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected construction spending to rise 0.7 percent in March.
The across-the-board decline in construction spending was the latest indication that the economy exited the first quarter with less momentum and suggested tighter fiscal policy was starting to take a toll.
The report also raised the risk of a downward revision to the government's moderate growth estimate of a 2.5 percent rate for the first quarter.
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