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U.S. construction spending fell 0.3 percent in May. Growth in housing, the economy’s standout performer, slowed while activity in areas most directly impacted by the pandemic showed further weakness.

The Commerce Department reported last week that the May decline followed a slight 0.1 percent rise in April and left overall construction spending up 7.5 percent from a year ago.

Housing construction, which has been a driving force for the economy during the pandemic, posted a tiny 0.2 percent gain in May as single-family home construction rose 0.8 percent while apartments and other multifamily construction was flat. Over the past year, housing construction is up 28.7 percent with single-family construction up a sizzling 46.1 percent.

Nonresidential construction activity fell 1.1 percent in May with hotel and motel construction and the category that covers shopping centers, two areas heavily affected by the pandemic shutdowns, both falling. Over the past year, nonresidential construction is down 5.8 percent while the hotel and motel category is down 23.2 percent.

Spending on government projects dipped a slight 0.2 percent in May and is down 8.7 percent over the past year, reflecting the squeeze many levels of government have felt from falling tax revenues

Nancy Vanden Houten, an economist with Oxford Economics, said she believed the big gap between home building and nonresidential construction would start to narrow “as a recovery in private nonresidential investment takes hold as the recovery accelerates.”

She said that supply chain constraints for lumber and other building materials may dampen growth in both residential and nonresidential spending for a time. But she said the recent plunge in lumber prices after a sharp runup in prices should ease cost pressures.

The various changes in May left overall construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.545 trillion.