Outlays for construction projects fell 0.7% in August to $1.78 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. 

Wall Street was expecting a drop of 0.2%.

Spending in July fell a revised 0.6% to $1.79 trillion, up from the prior estimate of a 0.4% drop.

Over the past year, construction spending is still up 8.5%.

Total private construction fell 0.6% in August. Private residential construction fell 0.9%, while private nonresidential spending fell 0.1%.

Total public construction fell 0.8%%. Residential public construction fell 2.7% while nonresidential public construction fell 0.8% last month.

“The figures were weak, but I had already penciled in some very negative estimates for Q3,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont, wrote in a note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, 2.11%, S&P 500 SPX, 1.85% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, 1.33% were all up in early trading on Monday.