North American construction market intelligence

Read the construction economy before it moves your business.

North American market intelligence for the companies that build, supply and shape the built environment.

Saturday, 12 September 2026 · Issue №22Board live · FRED + IMF
World context
S&P 500 7,656.98 ▲ 0.9%WTI crude $97.26 ▲ 3.2%Brent crude $109.51 ▲ 3.2%Natural gas $2.81 ▼ 3.1%10Y Treasury 4.95% ▲ 2.5%Fed funds 3.63% unchCPI · YoY 3.4% unchUSD/CAD 1.3834 ▲ 0.4%S&P 500 7,656.98 ▲ 0.9%WTI crude $97.26 ▲ 3.2%Brent crude $109.51 ▲ 3.2%Natural gas $2.81 ▼ 3.1%10Y Treasury 4.95% ▲ 2.5%Fed funds 3.63% unchCPI · YoY 3.4% unchUSD/CAD 1.3834 ▲ 0.4%
Housing starts
1.24 M SAAR
▼ 12.4%
Building permits
1.43 M SAAR
▲ 4.3%
Construction spending
2.16 $T SAAR
▼ 0.5%
Industrial production · mfg
99.3
▲ 0.2%
Construction employment
8.36 M
▲ 0.3%
New home sales
607 k SAAR
▼ 10.5%
Private construction spending
1.61 $T SAAR
▼ 0.5%
Public construction spending
0.54 $T SAAR
▼ 0.2%
Nonresidential construction
0.74 $T SAAR
▲ 0.3%
Manufacturing construction
169.8 $B SAAR
▼ 1.0%
Highway & street construction
151.5 $B SAAR
▼ 0.2%
Full board →
Jason Clark
From the desk · Issue №22

What the board is showing this week

Housing starts stood at 1.24 M SAAR in July 2026, down 12.4% from the prior reading. Building permits stood at 1.43 M SAAR in July 2026, up 4.3% from the prior reading. Construction spending stood at 2.16 $T SAAR in July 2026, down 0.5% from the prior reading.

Read the demand series together rather than in isolation. Permits and starts describe the same construction pipeline at different removes, and construction spending is where that pipeline shows up as dollars.

Jason Clark
Editor, Infra Market News · Thirty years watching companies enter North American construction markets

Demand

Permits, starts, spending, backlog and construction activity.

On release

Projects

Major developments, infrastructure awards and public investment.

Continuous

Contractors

GC and specialty-trade scale, capacity and operating moves.

Weekly

Products & Materials

Building products, input prices and commercially relevant innovation.

Continuous

Channel & Specification

Distribution, AEC, codes, specifiers and contractor channels.

Weekly

Capital & Consolidation

Construction M&A, plant investment and built-environment capital.

Weekly

Policy & Risk

Tariffs, procurement, rates, codes and trade policy.

As it happens

Labour & Capacity

Skilled trades, construction employment and contractor capacity.

On release

The wiresigned reads

Filtered · every item carries the editor’s read
Construction Dive63d

McCarthy completes $74M Kansas wastewater project

The readPublic owners are moving product and material decisions into preconstruction, where the general contractor sits at the table before bids are set. If you sell into public water and wastewater work, get specified during design and build the GC relationship now, because by bid day your window to be chosen is closed.
Roofing Contractor63d

Cool Roof Helps New American Home 2026 Beat Energy Targets

The readPutting commercial TPO on a marquee residential show home moves a commercial-only product into a spec category where residential builders and code officials now have a reference precedent to cite. If you make commercial roofing or envelope products, the crossover channel is open, so build residential-grade documentation and pull-through demand before your distributors treat you as commercial-only.
PR Newswire · M&A63d

Fulflex Acquires 300,000-Square-Foot, Fully Automated Medical Products Manufacturing Facility in Texas

The readBuying an already-automated, staffed plant rather than building signals that regulated medical manufacturing rewards speed to qualified capacity over greenfield cost control, since validated lines and trained operators are the real bottleneck. If you are entering North American healthcare production, price acquisition of a running, credentialed facility against the multi-year clock of standing up your own compliance and workforce.
PR Newswire · M&A64d

CleanCore Solutions (ZONE) Announces Closing of First Data Center Project, Establishing its Critical Infrastructure Buildout for the AI Economy

The readA cleaning-products company pivoting into a 200MW West Texas data center campus tells you AI power buildout is now pulling capital and land away from conventional industrial and construction pipelines in that corridor. If you are placing production or distribution in Texas, price in tighter competition for grid capacity, sites, and electrical trades, and lock those inputs before the data center cohort absorbs them.
ENR65d

Data Centers Drive Construction Growth But Tariffs, Interest Rates Pose Challenges Ahead

The readConstruction demand is now concentrated, not broad: data centers are carrying the number while the rest of the market contracts. Point your entry at the products, specs, and buyers feeding hyperscale and power builds, and treat general construction volume as a trailing indicator, not a target.

North America: construction economy

Construction demand · production context · capacity
Housing starts
FRED
1.24M SAAR
▼ 12.4%
Leading
Building permits
FRED
1.43M SAAR
▲ 4.3%
Leading
Construction spending
FRED
2.16$T SAAR
▼ 0.5%
Current
Industrial production · mfg
FRED
99.3
▲ 0.2%
Supporting context
Construction employment
FRED
8.36M
▲ 0.3%
Lagging
New home sales
FRED
607k SAAR
▼ 10.5%
Current
Private construction spending
FRED
1.61$T SAAR
▼ 0.5%
Current
Public construction spending
FRED
0.54$T SAAR
▼ 0.2%
Current
Nonresidential construction
FRED
0.74$T SAAR
▲ 0.3%
Current
Manufacturing construction
FRED
169.8$B SAAR
▼ 1.0%
Current
Highway & street construction
FRED
151.5$B SAAR
▼ 0.2%
Current

Input costs

Material prices · FRED / IMF, monthly
Lumber · PPI
FRED
286.6
▼ 1.5%
Iron & steel · PPI
FRED
378.1
▲ 0.9%
Copper · global price
IMF
13,543$/mt
▼ 0.1%
Construction materials · PPI
FRED
383.2
▲ 0.4%

US macro

via FRED · free, official
Fed funds (effective)
3.63%
monthly avg
10Y Treasury
4.95%
financing cost
CPI · YoY
3.4%
inflation
USD/CAD
1.3834
import-cost relevant

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