Construction spending falls less than expected
Analysts polled by Reuters had anticipated the drop to be a much steeper 1.3 percent. October's change was also revised to down 0.4 percent from the originally reported drop of 1.2 percent.
Still, private residential construction, which makes up roughly a third of total spending, fell a sharp 4.2 percent to $328 billion, the lowest annual rate since August 1999.
Public spending, on the other hand, increased 1.4 percent. Federal building was up 6 percent and state and local gained 1 percent.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Editing by Neil Stempleman)