US construction spending slumped in September
WASHINGTON — U.S. builders cut their spending on construction projects in September, the second straight monthly decline. Much of the decrease came as government spending for schools, sewers and transportation projects tumbled — part of a broader yearlong decline as infrastructure funding has become a key policy issue in the presidential election.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that total construction spending fell 0.7 per cent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion. Publicly-funded construction dropped 0.9 per cent to an annual rate of $270.3 billion. Over the past 12 months, government construction has slumped 7.8 per cent — a decline equal to nearly $23 billion.
Still, there was positive news in the report as construction spending for August and July were revised upward. This led many economists to increase their estimates of third-quarter growth from the annualized 2.9 per cent reported recently by the government to 3 per cent.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have pledged to revive infrastructure funding if elected president. By reforming the business tax code, Clinton would provide an additional $250 billion in direct funding over five years and found a new infrastructure bank with $25 billion. Trump would rely on new tax credits for infrastructure, with the campaign projecting an additional $1 trillion being spent over 10 years.