WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. builders spent more to construct homes in August, further evidence of a housing rebound. Still, the increase couldn’t offset cuts in public projects and commercial real estate.

Overall construction spending dipped 0.7 percent in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Monday. It was the second straight monthly decline.

The decline lowered construction spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $834.4 billion. That’s nearly 12 percent above a 12-year low hit in February 2011 and roughly half of what’s considered healthy.