US construction spending fell 0.5% month over month in July 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.158 trillion, its lowest level since October 2023. The decline followed an upwardly revised unchanged reading in June and missed economists' forecast for no change. Spending fell 3.8% from a year earlier. Residential construction dropped 1.3%, including a 3.2% decline in single-family housing investment, as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered near a one-year high of 6.66% and unsold-home inventories weighed on builders. Private nonresidential structures spending increased 0.4%, led by power plants, but factory outlays fell 0.8% in July and 21.7% year over year as support from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act faded. Public construction spending declined 0.2%.