Construction Spending Off in July But Housing Up

Washington, DC, Sept. 1, 2009--U.S. construction spending edged down slightly in July as weakness in nonresidential building and government projects offset the best showing for home building in 10 months, according to the Commerce Department.

The government said Tuesday that construction spending dipped 0.2 percent in July, worse than the flat reading that economists had expected. The drop followed a small 0.1 percent rise in June.

The July decline occurred even though construction of homes and apartments rose by 2.3 percent in July. It was the best showing since last September and further evidence that the nation's long housing slump may finally be bottoming out.