Construction spending down 0.2 percent
Construction spending during March was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,218.3 billion, 0.2 percent below the revised February estimate of $1,220.7 billion.
The March figure is 3.6 percent above the March 2016 estimate of $1,176.4 billion.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $940.2 billion, nearly the same as the revised February estimate of $940.1 billion. Residential construction was 1.2 percent above February. Nonresidential construction was 1.3 percent below February.
In March, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $278.1 billion, 0.9 percent below the revised February estimate of $280.7 billion. Educational construction was 2.0 percent below February. Highway construction was 0.5 percent above February.