According to the U.S. Census Bureau, construction spending during September 2024 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,148.8 billion, 0.1% (±1.0%) above the revised August estimate of $2,146.0 billion.
The September figure is 4.6% (±1.6%) above the September 2023 estimate of $2,055.2 billion. During the first nine months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,621.4 billion, 7.3% (±1.2%) above the $1,511.4 billion for the same period in 2023.
In September, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $495.2 billion, 0.5% (±1.8%) above the revised August estimate of $492.9 billion.
- Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $141.0 billion, 0.5% (±4.4%) above the revised August estimate of $140.3 billion.
- Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $104.2 billion, 0.3% (±2.1%) above the revised August estimate of $103.9 billion.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,653.6 billion, virtually unchanged from (±0.5%) the revised August estimate of $1,653.2 billion.
- Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $913.6 billion in September, 0.2% (±1.3%) above the revised August estimate of $912.2 billion.
- Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $740.0 billion in September, 0.1% (±0.5%) below the revised August estimate of $741.0 billion.
“Construction spending inched higher in September, with growth fueled by ongoing infrastructure investment,” said Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Spending accelerated in several publicly funded segments in September, including highway and street, sewage and waste disposal and water supply. The privately funded nonresidential construction segment didn’t perform as well for the month, with spending in that segment contracting for the second time in the past three months.
“Despite September’s decline, private nonresidential construction spending remains less than 1% below the all-time high established in June,” said Basu. “Given ongoing manufacturing megaprojects and healthy backlog levels, according to ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, the nonresidential segment should hold up well as the industry waits for lower borrowing costs and looser lending standards to arrive.”