ANALYSIS:US June Construction Spending Down 1.3%; Homes Down 0.3% >

--Total Private Spending Down For Third Straight Month

--May Construction Revised Up; April Revised Down

By Sara Haire and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Construction spending was down 1.3% in June, 

with a 0.1% decline in private construction and a steep 5.4% drop in 

public construction, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday 

morning showed. 

     Analysts had expected construction spending to rise 0.4% after a 

flat reading for May. With the latest data, May construction was 

revised to a 0.3% increase, while April spending was revised down to a 

1.8% decrease from the 0.7% drop previously reported. 

     Private residential construction spending fell 0.2% in the month, 

with new home building dropping 0.3% based on an MNI calculation. 

Single-family building rose 0.3%, while multi-family building saw a 

sharp decrease of 2.9%. Construction excluding new homes, which captures 

remodelling was unchanged, following drops in both May and April. 

     Private nonresidential construction was up 0.1% in June. There were 

gains in office, health care, educational, recreation, and communication 

that more than offset declines in commercial, religious, transportation, 

power, and manufacturing. 

     Public construction saw a significant 5.4% drop in June. State and 

local government spending, the much larger portion of public 

construction, was down 5.1% after a 1.4% increase in May, while Federal 

government construction saw a steep decline of 9.3% in June after a 7.6% 

rise in May. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$,MT$$$$]