Construction Spending Falls in July

Washington, DC, Sept. 4, 2012 -- U.S. construction spending fell in July by the largest amount in a year, hurt by a big decline in spending on home improvement, according to the Commerce Department.

The government said construction spending fell 0.9% in July after three months of increases.

Those increases were largely in home and apartment construction. New home construction rose again in July, but home renovation spending fell by 5.5%.

Spending was also down for non-residential projects and government construction projects as well.

The July decrease left spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $834.4 billion, up 11.8% from a 12-year low in February 2011.