Construction spending fell again in April as home building continued a more than two-year-long slide.  The Commerce Department reported that construction activity fell by 0.4 percent in April after having been down 0.6 percent in March. Construction has not increased since last September as the building industry continues to be battered by the worst slump in housing in decades.

Private residential housing construction dropped by 2.3 percent in April, the 26th consecutive monthly decline. Private non-residential activity, however, rose by a strong 1.6 percent, pushing activity in this area to an all-time high as spending on shopping centers, office buildings and hotels all showed big gains.

The 0.4 percent drop in overall construction was slightly smaller than the 0.6 percent fall economists had been expecting and the decline in March of 0.6 percent had originally been reported as a larger 1.1 percent drop. Rising numbers of foreclosures are dumping even more homes on the market.

With the exception a few stocks – the attached table shows most issues have bearish FusionIQ ranks.