BUILDING BIFURCATION

July US construction spending declined 3.8% Y-o-Y and is at $2.2 trillion seasonally adjusted. Public construction was up 1.7% Y-o-Y, largely due to highway/street construction, which rose 4.5% Y-o-Y. Private residential construction fell 7.3% Y-o-Y and is lousy. Private non-residential fell 3.3% Y-o-Y despite being massively propped up by data center construction, up 57.2% Y-o-Y. Absent data centers, power (up 6.5% Y-o-Y) and highways/streets construction, construction activity would be sinking.