U.S. construction spending bounced back in March following a February beset by frigid cold and winter storms across large swaths of the country.

However, spending on construction projects rose just 0.2% in March, the Commerce Department said Monday, significantly less than the 1.7% jump economists had expected. That comes even as February’s decline was revised downward, as was January’s.

Still,. through the first three months of the year, total construction spending of $328.3 billion is 4.5% ahead of where it was last year.

Private construction continued to grow, up 0.7% from the previous month, with residential construction up 1.7%.

Private spending on construction of single-family homes rose 2% while spending on apartments and other multi-family units declined 0.3%.

Spending on government construction projects fell again as state and local governments remain cautious as falling tax revenues due to the pandemic cut into their budgets. Public project spending fell 1.5% in March, with spending on schools and other educational facilities down 2% and highway and road construction spending declining 2.2%.

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