October construction spending falls 1.2 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction spending fell a steeper-than-expected 1.2 percent in October as home construction posted its biggest drop in three months, a Commerce Department report showed on Monday.

Analysts were expecting a 1.0 percent decrease in overall construction spending, according to a poll by Reuters. A 0.3 percent drop originally reported for September that was revised to unchanged.

Private home building tumbled 3.5 percent, the sharpest fall since a 6.2 percent decline in July. Total public construction rose 0.7 percent.

Private construction was off 2 percent from the previous month while federal construction rose 5.5 percent.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Tom Hals)