TOPSHOTS Laborers use a lift as they work at the transportation hub of the One World Trade Center in New York on October 17, 2014. US spending on construction slowed in August 2014, with declines in both the private and public sectors, the Commerce Department reported. Total construction spending fell 0.8 percent from July to an annual rate of $961.0 billion, but year-over-year was up 5.0 percent. The July figure was revised sharply lower to $968.8 billion from the prior estimate of $981.0 billion. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad