Construction Spending Drops 0.4% in May

onstruction spending fell 0.4% in May, the biggest drop since September 2004, the Commerce Department said Monday.

he drop followed a revised 0.2% decline in April that had originally been reported as a 0.1% dip.

Private non-residential construction declined by the most since June 2005, Bloomberg said. Private residential construction dropped 0.8% after falling 1.2% in April.

Including public projects, non-residential construction rose 0.2%. Spending on public construction rose 0.7% following a 0.5% gain in April.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.