June construction activity rises 0.1 percent

Construction spending edged up in June but all the strength came from the government. Private sector activity in both housing and nonresidential projects fell.

Construction spending rose 0.1 percent in June, the Commerce Department reported Monday [Aug. 2]. While that was better than the decline economists had forecast, the government sharply revised down its estimate of activity in May to show a drop of 1 percent rather than the 0.2 percent dip initially reported, according to an Aug. 2 AP report in The New York Times.