Construction Pace Declines Further

Construction spending fell 0.7% in April for the second consecutive month, the government said. Analysts said the report signaled a weakening building industry.

The Commerce Department said residential, non-residential and government construction spending totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $432.4 billion in April. The revised 0.7% March decline was improved from the 1.4% drop first reported last month.

The decreases in March and April spending followed gains of 3.2% in February and 2.4% in January and resulted in the loss of 159,000 construction jobs.