Construction spending fell 0.2 percent in December and 9.3 percent for 1991, the steepest annual drop since 1944, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Construction spending was down in December for the second month in a row, breaking a string of four monthly increases, the Commerce Department said.Construction spending fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $407.4 billion in December, down from an upwardly revised $408.4 in November, the Commerce Department said.
Total construction spending for 1991 totaled $404.9 billion, a 9.3 percent drop from 1990. It was the first fall since a 4 percent decline in the last recession in 1982 and was the most dramatic drop since a 36. 6 percent decline in 1944, the last full year of World War II.
The December decline was split nearly evenly between private construction, down 0.2 percent, and public construction, down 0.3 percent.
In the private sector, residential construction fell 0.5 percent, while non-residential construction rose 0.2 percent.
In the non-residential category, office construction was down 4.1 percent and hotel and motel construction was off 4.3 percent. Gains were reported in educational facilities, up 5.4 percent; industrial buildings, up 3.7 percent; and hospitals, up 8.9 percent.