Dive Brief:

• Optimistic economists got a bit of a surprise on Monday when the Census Bureau reported that construction spending fell 1.1% during January.

• The dip was due to a decrease in the construction of commercial buildings, private schools, hotels, and other private structures, and to a fall in government spending on public schools and other projects.

• Looking up, however, was single-family home and apartment construction, which grew just a bit, by 0.6%. Nonresidential construction overall was down 1.6% from December.

Dive Insight:

The results contradicted many economists' predictions. Those surveyed by Bloomberg before the report's release said they had expected construction spending to rise 0.3% in January.

The report was a bit of a letdown after a stronger December showing, when construction of new homes and work on federal highways drove an increase in overall construction spending of 0.4%.