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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government report due Wednesday is forecast to show that construction activity fell 0.3 percent in November, as a drop in residential building is likely to offset increases in spending on government projects, hotels and office buildings. The Commerce Department report, scheduled for release at 10 a.m. EST, is expected to show spending at an annual rate of $1.155 trillion, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. October's results, which put spending at an annual rate of $1.158 trillion, were down 0.8 percent from a month earlier and down 0.6 percent from year-ago levels as weak residential results hamstrung kept gains in other sectors from lifting overall activity. Shares of major U.S. homebuilders including those of D.R. Horton Inc., Lennar Corp. and Centex Corp., have plummeted this year as they were socked by the housing market's downturn. However, construction and engineering firms such as Fluor Corp., Foster Wheeler Ltd. and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. have seen their shares soar.
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