Official figures have confirmed that for the seventh consecutive month, construction activity declined as spending on both residential and commercial building projects fell, a sign which worried experts about lingering troubles in the construction market that might end up acting as a drag on the overall economic recovery.

On Monday, the Commerce Department confirmed that construction spending fell by 0.6% for the month of November, a bigger slip than the 0.4% that analysts were expecting.

The sector's weakness was widespread with spending on housing declining by the largest amount recorded since the month of June 2009. Non-residential buildings, on the other hand, dipped for the eighth consecutive month.

The 0.6% fall in activity for November has come after a decline of 0.5% recorded for October. The 7 straight declines have managed to push the construction spending down to a yearly rate, seasonally adjusted, of $900.1 Billion, which is the slowest pace recorded in over 6 years and 13.2% below the level of activity last year.

Falls were recorded in both private and public construction projects.