Domestic Construction Spending Sees Uptick in September

During the first nine months of 2024, construction spending nationwide reaches $1.62 trillion

U.S. domestic construction up 01% in September 2024. — Bryan Gottlieb/Roofing Contractor

In September, the U.S. construction sector experienced the slightest upward bump, with spending rising by 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.14 trillion, reflecting a minor adjustment from the revised estimate for August, according to data from the US Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau.

This figure also represents a 4.6% increase from the September 2023 estimate of $2.05 trillion. Construction spending reached $1.62 trillion during the first nine months of 2024, 7.3% higher than the $1.51 trillion reported for the same period in 2023.

Private construction spending remained virtually unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.6536 trillion from the revised August estimate of $1.6532 trillion.

The National Association of Home Builders analyzed the data, indicating that an increase in single-family construction primarily drove the September rise in total private construction spending, which increased by 0.4%.

Residential construction spending was also slightly up by 0.2% within this segment, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $913.6 billion. On the other hand, nonresidential private construction spending saw a slight decrease of 0.1%, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $740 billion in September.

Public construction spending in September 2024 was $495.2 billion, 0.5% above the revised August estimate of $492.9 billion. Meanwhile, educational construction spending was $104.2B, a 0.3% increase from August.

Highway construction spending also increased, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $141 billion, 0.5% higher than the previous month’s estimate and 4.6% higher than the September 2023 estimate of $2.05 trillion.

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Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage.

Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business.