Construction Spending Drops in July

Construction spending fell in July for the first time in four months, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The 0.9% drop was the biggest decrease in a year and followed a 0.4% increase in June, Commerce said.

Economists had forecast a 0.4% increase, Bloomberg reported.

Private non-residential construction spending decreased 0.9%, while single-family homebuilding outlays climbed 1.5%.

Public construction dropped 0.4% from the prior month.

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