P.M. BRIEFING : Construction Spending Off 0.5%

Construction spending fell 0.5% in December, its ninth consecutive decline, which helped limit outlays for the year to a meager 0.6% gain, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said residential, non-residential and government construction spending totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $415.1 billion, the lowest level since $410.5 billion in January, 1988.

The drop followed revised declines of 1.5% in November, even worse than the 0.6% decrease originally reported, and 0.1% in October. The department first said October spending had risen 0.3%. For the year, spending totaled $434.9 billion, up from $432.1 billion in 1989.

But construction has been consistently on the skids since posting a 0.4% gain last March, racked by tight credit, high vacancy rates and faltering consumer confidence because of the Persian Gulf crisis and a recessionary economy.

Construction jobs have tumbled 450,000 since last May.