The US Census Bureau announced today that the spending rate for residential construction projects fell for the 24th consecutive month in February and has fallen 34.4 percent from its peak of $696 million in February 2006.

Private construction spending dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $456.9 billion in February, down by about 18.8 percent compared to the same period last year and down 0.9 percent compared to the previous month. This rate is a projection of a monthly construction spending total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for seasonal fluctuations in spending. The residential spending rate in February was the lowest since May 2003, when it stood at $456.5 billion.

Total construction spending, including public and private residential and nonresidential construction spending, dropped to a rate of $1.12 trillion in February, which is down about 3.5 percent from February 2007 and down 0.3 percent compared to January 2008.

For the first two months of this year, construction spending totaled $155.1 billion, or about 2.6 percent below spending during the same period in 2007.

Total private construction spending dipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $826.6 billion in February, down about 7.1 percent compared to February 2007 and down about 0.5 percent compared to January 2008.

Total public construction spending rose to a rate of $294.9 billion in February, up 8.2 percent compared to February 2007 and up 0.4 percent compared to January 2008.