According to the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau, U.S. construction spending rose 0.6% in March after a 0.2% decrease in February. This surpassed a forecast from economists polled by Reuters, who predicted a 0.2% increase.

One report indicates that total construction spending in March 2026 was $2.185 trillion— not only a 0.6% increase from February, but a 1.6% increase from the previous March.

Now that the Census Bureau has caught up on releasing construction spending data after delays due to the federal government shutdown last year, it’s been revealed that year-over-year, construction spending in March increased 1.6% over the same month last year.

Private construction projects were responsible for 0.8% of the March increase in spending, as investment in residential construction rose 1.7% and spending on new single-family housing projects jumped 2.7%. Private sector spending rose 1% year-over-year, despite fewer building permits being issued (1.372 million units in March, down 10.8% from February and 7.4% from 2025.)

However, there is concern that higher mortgage rates, resulting in part from inflation and higher prices due to tariffs, could limit future growth. While housing starts in March 2026 were up 10.8% from February (with 1.502 million units), they were 10.8% below March 2025. In fact, the Census Bureau reports that residential investment has declined for five straight quarters.

Building permits for privately owned housing in March were down 10.8% from February (with 1.372 million units) and 7.4% from 2025. On the contrary, spending on multifamily housing units, which account for a small share of the housing market, gained 0.3% in March.

The nonresidential side of construction has suffered a decline, with spending on private nonresidential structures like offices and factories down 0.2% in March, a continuation of the decline over the past nine quarters—the longest such stretch on record.

Even public construction project investment fell 0.2% in March after falling 0.3% in February. State and local government construction spending dipped 0.1% in March and spending for federal government projects dropped 2.6%.