May construction spending fell 0.4 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. construction spending fell 0.4 percent in May on continued deterioration in the residential sector, but outside of home building private spending rose for the fifth consecutive month, government data on Tuesday showed.

Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the report were expecting a 0.6 percent decrease in overall construction spending after a 0.1 percent drop in April, first reported as a 0.4 percent decline.

Private sector spending on a range of nonresidential structures such as factories, lodging, offices and power plants rose 0.2 percent to a record $405.3 billion. Public construction spending also rose 0.4 percent to a record $301.1 billion.

But that was more than offset by private residential construction spending, which fell 1.6 percent in May, which a Commerce Department official said was the 25th decline in the last 26 months.