Construction Spending Declines in March

Construction spending fell 1.7% in March, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The decline brought outlays to $856.7 billion and followed a 1.5% rise in February, Commerce said.

Economists had forecast a 0.6% increase, Bloomberg News reported.

Government projects dropped by 4.1%, the biggest decline since March 2002, Bloomberg reported.

Revised figures showed construction spending in January dropped 4%, the biggest drop since records began in 1993, Bloomberg reported.

Private construction spending declined 0.6%, and spending on single-family homes rose 0.4%.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.