Construction spending nationwide fell for a fourth straight month in February to the slowest rate in nearly 7 1/2 years as activity softened in every major sector from homebuilding to public construction projects.

Overall construction spending fell 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $846 billion following a revised 1.4 percent decline in January that previously was reported as a 0.6 percent decrease, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday.

The February drop exceeded the 1 percent decline that economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast.