The Commerce Department released a repot on Tuesday unexpectedly showing a decrease by U.S. construction spending in the month of July.
The report said construction spending fell by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of $2.163 trillion in July, while revised data showed construction spending was nearly unchanged at an annual rate of $2.169 trillion in June.
Economists had expected construction spending to come in unchanged compared to the 0.3 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.
The unexpected dip by total construction spending came as spending on private construction slid by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $1.679 trillion.
Spending on residential construction fell by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $941.6 billion, while spending on non-residential construction declined by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of $737.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said spending on public construction inched up by 0.1 percent to an annual rate of $484.0 billion.