Home Builders Spending Half of Healthy Level

Home builders are sitting on their hands, as are apartment and government project builders, with building activity at around half the $1.5 trillion that would constitute a robust construction environment. Construction spending declined for the third month in a row in February, falling 1.4 percent, according to the Commerce Department. Total construction activity dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $760.6 billion -- the lowest number since October 1999. Economists are predicting it will take four more years for construction to recover to a robust level.