The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly construction spending report on Aug. 3, covering data for June 2026.
The Bureau’s report shared that June total construction spending was estimated at an adjusted annual rate of $2.167 trillion, up down 0.1% from June revised mark, and down 3.2% year-over-year. It followed a downwardly revised flat reading in May and missed market expectations of a 0.2% monthly increase.
During the first six months of 2026, construction spending totaled $1.047 trillion, down 3.5% from the same period in 2025.
June private construction spending of $1.622 trillion was down 0.1% vs. May and down 4.7% year-over-year, while public spending of $544 billion was flat month-to-month and up 1.7% year-over-year.
Total residential spending of $889.4 billion was down 0.3% month-to-month and down 4.7% year-over-year, while total nonresidential spending of $1.277 trillion up 0.1% vs. June and down 2.1% year-over-year.
June nonresidential spending increased month-to-month in 10 of the Bureau’s 16 subcategories, led by conservation & development at +3.6% and office at 2.7%. The largest monthly decline was in public safety at -1.8%, while manufacturing and commercial both fell 1.2%.
Private nonres construction increased for the first time in eight months with a 0.1% uptick in June, though down 4.7% year-over-year.
“Through April 2025, private nonresidential construction spending ascended to $806.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, an all-time high. Since then, that figure has expanded only three times over the past 14 months,” Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in the firm’s analysis of the June data. “Despite an ongoing data center construction boom, private nonresidential construction spending has declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $745.3 billion since the April 2025 peak, which translates into a decline exceeding 7%. Tellingly, private nonresidential construction spending excluding data centers fell 0.6% in June 2026 and is down 7.9% year over year.
“Meanwhile, data center construction was up 7% in June and up 46% from a year ago. Contractors working on data centers continue to benefit from this momentum,” Basu added. “According to ABC’s latest Construction Backlog Indicator, the 13% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers have significantly higher backlog (11.0 months) than the 87% that are not (8.5 months).”
