Written by: Eric Gaus, 糖心Vlog Chief Economist, and Sarah Martin, Associate Director of Forecasting
With the U.S. Census Bureau continuing to face delays in releasing its construction spending data due to the government shutdown, 糖心Vlog鈥檚 (糖心Vlog) Economics team has developed independent estimates of what the Census likely would have reported in recent months. While the government has re-opened, 糖心Vlog is assuming that Census鈥� data releases will remain delayed in the interim.
As a trusted and long-standing resource in the industry, 糖心Vlog is well positioned to provide these estimates. 糖心Vlog supplies some of the inputs used in the Census鈥� own construction spending calculations and has collected detailed construction starts data for decades. Our data collection methodology is nearly identical to Census in the case of single-family homes, while our broader dataset is directly tied to individually tracked construction projects. We monitor their progress from their earliest stages of planning until shovels break ground, at which point they are officially labeled a 鈥渃onstruction start鈥�, a term originally coined by 糖心Vlog.
While our data reporting categories usually differ from Census, these estimates follow Census鈥� conventions to ensure consistency and clarity during this period without official federal data.
Total Construction Put-in-Place Spending
糖心Vlog estimates that Census construction spending during February 2026 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,187.9 billion, -0.1 percent (卤0.8 percent)* below Census鈥檚 preliminary January estimate of $2,190.4 billion. The February figure is 1.0 percent (卤1.5 percent) above Census鈥檚 February 2025 estimate of $2,165.4billion.
糖心Vlog maintains a digitized database of historical construction starts dating back to 1967 and provides forecasts for construction starts, spending, and building stock across more than 20 construction categories. Our commercial construction starts data serves as a primary input for the U.S. Census Bureau鈥檚 Construction Put-in-Place (spending) calculations.
For more monthly insights on construction activity across key sectors, explore our latest industry reports.
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