The Construction Economist — September 5, 2026

Data centers are the only thing growing · Residential spending falls a fourth straight month · The 2026 forecast turns negative · Job openings near a two-year high · A power-equipment import ban

Top News

Data centers drove all nonresidential spending growth in July Construction Dive · ~3 min read

Total construction spending fell 0.5% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.17 trillion, down 3.8% from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau release published Sept. 1. Nonresidential spending rose 0.1% on the month to $1.286 trillion, and the entire increase came from data centers, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis. Excluding that category, nonresidential spending fell for a second straight month and is at its lowest level since September 2023, said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist.

What it means: The 0.1% nonresidential headline is a net number hiding a market that has pulled apart. Year over year, office — the Census line that carries data center work — is up 16.9% and power is up 5.3%, while manufacturing is down 21.2%, lodging 9.6% and commercial 4.9%. Two of the three categories still growing are the same buildout counted twice, and the third, highway and street at 4.5%, runs on an act that expires Sept. 30. So for a contractor without data center, power or highway work, "the market is roughly flat" is the wrong read — their share of it has been shrinking for two months and is back where it stood three years ago. Plan for more bidders on everything outside those three lanes, and price against that rather than last year's hit rate.

Private Residential Construction Spending Continues to Weaken NAHB Eye on Housing · ~2 min read

Private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $859.0 billion in July, down 1.3% from the revised June estimate and down 7.3% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Home Builders' reading of Census Bureau data. July marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Project Finance & Economics

Construction Briefs Sept 2026 Construction Analytics — Ed Zarenski · ~3 min read

Ed Zarenski's preliminary forecast, built off July spending data, puts total 2026 construction spending down 3.2% for the year. Residential is forecast down 5.9% and nonresidential buildings down 5.0%, while nonbuilding is forecast up 4%.

Transmission expansion could spur billions in savings, especially in PJM: study Utility Dive · ~3 min read

About a dozen interregional and intraregional transmission projects in the Eastern Interconnection could help meet load growth, lower retail electric rates and bolster grid reliability, according to a study covered by Utility Dive. The largest identified savings are concentrated in the PJM footprint.

Labor & Workforce

ABC: Construction Job Openings Up by 28,000 to Near-2-Year High in July Construction Business Owner · ~2 min read

The construction industry had 326,000 job openings on the last day of July, an increase of 28,000 from the prior month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. ABC described the figure as a near-two-year high.

Meta, ABC Partner Construction Executive · ~2 min read

Meta Platforms and Associated Builders and Contractors have launched America's Workforce Academy, a $115 million initiative to train construction workers for the data center market. The program is aimed at thousands of craft workers.

Materials & Supply Chain

Presidential Order Bans Use of Bulk-Storage Power Equipment from 'Certain Foreign Actors' ENR · ~4 min read

A presidential order bars the use of bulk-storage power equipment sourced from what it calls certain foreign actors, covering Russia along with a number of Middle Eastern and African countries. Market observers told ENR that China's dominance in power equipment supply is the order's main target and that the measure carries potentially sweeping implications.

North Carolina lumber company invests in on-site rail, part of $40M project Supply Chain Dive · ~2 min read

Great Southern Wood-NC and the North Carolina Railroad Company are investing in on-site rail infrastructure as part of a $40 million project. The companies said the work is intended to lower transportation costs.

The Construction Economist — What's Moving Construction? The Economic Look-Ahead.