August Construction Spending Declines to $2,131.9 Billion But is Still Up +4.1% YOY

Construction spending during Aug. 2024 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,131.9 billion, -0.1% below the revised July estimate of $2,133.9 billion.
The August figure from U.S. Census Bureau is +4.1% above the Aug. 2023 estimate of $2,047.4 billion. During the first eight months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,428.5 billion, +7.6% above the $1,327 billion for the same period in 2023.

Private construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,642.2 billion, -0.2% below the revised July estimate of $1,645.8 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $899.9 billion in August, -0.3% below the revised July estimate of $903 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $742.2 billion in August, -0.1% below the revised July estimate of $742.8 billion.
The construction of Computer/Electronic/ Electrical facilities continues to grow and is one of the largest construction categories.
In August, revenues hit $133,311 billion, a +0.8% increase over July and a +23.6% change since Aug. 2023. The Census Dept. now breaks out data centers as a construction category, and it maintains its rapid pace with $28,565 billion worth of new construction in August, good for a +1% monthly increase and a +56.9% increase over Aug. 2023.

Public construction

In August, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $489.8 billion, +0.3% above the revised July estimate of $488.2 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $102.4 billion, virtually unchanged from the revised July estimate of $102.3 billion.