Spending on private residential construction fell 3.2% from November levels to $319.2 million in December, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
The decline put the December figure 22.9% below December, 2007.
Overall construction spending was down 1.4% to $1.05 billion in December, 3.6% below a year earlier, with private construction off 1.7% to $737.1 million, 7.6% below December 2007, and public construction off 0.8% to$316.6 million, a 7% drop from a year earlier. The categories with the most growth amid the downturn were private commuications industry construction, which was up 5% to $22.3 million and private manufacturing construciton, which was up 3% to $75.3 million.
