The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly construction spending report on Sept. 1, covering data for July 2026.
The Bureau’s report shared that July total construction spending was estimated at an adjusted annual rate of $2.157.6 trillion, down 0.5% from the June revised mark, and down 3.8% year-over-year. It followed an upwardly revised flat reading in June and missed market expectations of a flat monthly reading for July.
Overall, the July mark was its lowest since October 2023.
During the first seven months of 2026, construction spending totaled $1.244.6 trillion, down 3.5% from the same period in 2025.
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July private construction spending of $1.614.2 trillion was down 0.5% vs. June’s revised total and down 5.5% year-over-year, while public spending of $543 billion was down 0.2 month-to-month and up 1.7% year-over-year.
Total residential construction spending of $871.2 billion was down 1.3% month-to-month and down 7.3% year-over-year, while total nonresidential spending of $1.286.4 trillion was up 0.1% vs. June and down 1.3% year-over-year.
July nonresidential spending increased month-to-month in six of the Bureau’s 16 subcategories, led by office (which includes data centers) at 2.9%. Led by its data centers component, office construction ended July up 16.9% year-over-year. Elsewhere, nonres spending decreased in eight subcategories, including -1.0% in manufacturing.
“The increase in nonresidential construction spending that occurred in July was entirely due to data centers,” Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in the firm’s analysis of the July data. “Excluding that booming category, nonresidential spending fell for the second straight month and is down to the lowest level since September 2023.”
After snapping an eight-month streak of decreases in June, private nonres construction increased for a second straight month with a 0.4% gain in July, but remained down 3.3% year-over-year.
“Nonresidential activity is even more concentrated given that the power category, which has been boosted by the electricity needs of data centers, has also grown substantially over the past year,” Basu added. “While contractors remain upbeat about their sales over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, that upbeat outlook is increasingly dependent on a single sector.”
