Total construction spending ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,203.1 billion in August, 1.7 percent below the $2,242.0 billion rate of August 2025, the Census Bureau reported on October 1. The bureau puts the margin of error on that year-over-year comparison at plus or minus 1.5 percent, so the decline is statistically distinguishable from zero. Both figures are annual rates for a single month, which makes them comparable with each other.
The same release shows August above July, but only within a margin that includes zero. The yearly comparison is the firmer finding of the two, and it frames how much work the country’s building sites are doing relative to a year ago.
Two Augusts, both published as annual rates
A seasonally adjusted annual rate takes one month, removes the normal seasonal pattern, and states what a full year would add up to at that pace. Setting August 2026 against August 2025 is therefore a like-for-like test: same month, same adjustment, same basis. The gap between them is $38.9 billion, a subtraction worked out here from the two published rates, and Census gives the percentage itself in its release CB26-158.
The 1.7 percent decline is slightly larger than its 1.5 percent margin. That is a narrow clearance, not a wide one. Within the margin, the true decline could be as small as about 0.2 percent or as large as about 3.2 percent, a range derived here from the stated figures.
For context, the gap also says something about scale. A $38.9 billion difference is 1.7 percent of the 2025 rate, which is small beside a $2,242.0 billion base but large enough that Census treats it as a real decline rather than sampling variation. Construction put in place is a broad measure, so a move of that size reflects many projects rather than any one large one.
A monthly rise that Census does not count as a change
July was revised to $2,184.5 billion, and August’s $2,203.1 billion is 0.9 percent above it, with a margin of plus or minus 1.0 percent. Because the interval includes zero, the release does not establish that total spending rose between July and August. The practical reading is that spending was roughly flat on the month and lower on the year. The monthly comparison is made against the revised $2,184.5 billion for July, not against any earlier published figure.
Revision is part of the story too. The bureau’s wording, the revised July estimate, shows that monthly figures are restated after first publication. The next release, covering September, is scheduled for November 2, 2026, and it may adjust both August and July again.
How the $2,203.1 billion divides between private and public
Private construction was at an annual rate of $1,655.3 billion in August, up 1.1 percent, plus or minus 0.5 percent, from July’s $1,637.7 billion. Within it, residential was $882.3 billion and nonresidential was $773.0 billion. Public construction was $547.8 billion, up 0.2 percent, plus or minus 2.0 percent, from $546.8 billion.
On those totals, private work is about three quarters of the whole and public work about one quarter, shares computed here from the published figures. Inside public, educational construction was $113.1 billion and highway construction $150.6 billion, the latter with a margin of plus or minus 5.6 percent on its monthly change, the widest in the set. The bureau lists these figures on its August 2026 summary page.
The eight-month total uses a different basis
The same release states that construction spending during the first eight months of 2026 was $1,450.4 billion, 3.1 percent, plus or minus 1.0 percent, below $1,496.6 billion for the same period of 2025. That is a cumulative sum of actual spending, not an annual rate, and it should not be set beside $2,203.1 billion as though the two measured the same thing.
The two comparisons nonetheless agree in direction. The monthly annual-rate series is 1.7 percent below a year earlier and the cumulative total is 3.1 percent below, and both clear their margins of error. The cumulative decline is larger because it averages eight months of weakness, while the August comparison looks at one month only.
What counts as construction spending in these totals
The measure behind both figures is the value of construction put in place. Under the bureau’s definitions, that is the value of construction installed or erected at the site during a given period, including materials, labor, contractor profit, architectural and engineering fees, overhead, and applicable interest and taxes. Projects count by ownership during construction, private or government, and the total is the sum of the two.
The sourced statement therefore rests on a single primary document. Census Bureau release CB26-158, issued at 10:00 AM Eastern on October 1, 2026, gives total construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,203.1 billion for August, 1.7 percent, plus or minus 1.5 percent, below the August 2025 estimate of $2,242.0 billion.
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Drafting help came from an AI assistant; the figures were then matched line by line to the Census Bureau’s published release.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
