Building Blues Continue

Remember the good old days, when housing was the engine that kept our economy going?

In 2003 and 2004, housing construction was one of the few sources of new jobs and new spending as the economy limped though its long, "jobless recovery" from the recession of 2001.

The situation is reversed today. This time, the housing business is an anchor around our necks as we try to climb out of recession.

Construction spending continued its fall in December, dropping 1.2 percent to a seasonal adjusted annual rate of 902.5 billion, according to figures released today from the U.S. Commerce Dept.