Auction.com: Growth Slows to a Crawl

IRVINE, CA-The US Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce has revealed that construction spending during May was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $874.9 billion, which is 0.5% above the revised April estimate of $870.3 billion. The May figure is 5.4% above the May 2012 estimate of $830.4 billion, but has not met economists’ expectations for an economy that some experts say should be well into recovery by now.

According to Julie Zisfein, senior associate and economist at Auction.com Research here, the May construction-spending report finds that growth has slowed to a crawl. Zisfein said in a prepared statement that the construction-spending data’s findings are “falling short of expectations yet again. While this is an improvement from the 0.1% gain in April, spending has been subdued over the past six months, hovering around the $870-billion mark after increasing at a somewhat faster pace throughout 2011 and early 2012.”