US construction spending rises 0.9% in August to a $2.20 trillion annual rate, still 1.7% below a year earlier

The Census Bureau reported on 1 October 2026 that construction spending in August was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,203.1 billion, 0.9% above the revised July estimate of $2,184.5 billion. The Bureau's own confidence interval for the monthly change is ±1.0 percentage point, which includes zero, so it says there is insufficient evidence that the actual change differs from zero. Compared with August 2025's $2,242.0 billion, spending was 1.7% lower.

The breakdown

• Private construction: $1,655.3 billion, up 1.1% from $1,637.7 billion in July (a change the Bureau finds statistically significant)
• Residential: $882.3 billion, up 1.1% from $872.7 billion (not statistically significant)
• Nonresidential: $773.0 billion, up 1.0% from $765.0 billion (statistically significant)
• Public construction: $547.8 billion, up 0.2% from $546.8 billion (not significant)
• Educational: $113.1 billion, up 0.1%
• Highway: $150.6 billion, up 0.1%

For the first eight months of 2026 spending totalled $1,450.4 billion, 3.1% below the $1,496.6 billion of the same period in 2025. So the August rise is a step up within a year that is still behind last year's pace.

How to read it

Construction spending is revised heavily and moves in irregular steps; the Census Bureau says it may take two months to establish an underlying trend for total construction and as long as eight for specific categories. The report counts the value of work put in place, which lags the permits and starts that come first. Housing starts fell 2.6% in August (report), and new home sales rose 6.4% in a month where the Bureau says the change is not significant (report).

The macro question is how rates and prices shape building. Construction is sensitive to financing costs, and the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.29% on 30 September (report). The Census Bureau publishes the September construction spending report on 2 November. Live prices: EUR/USD.