U.S. Real Construction Spending · Water Supply (2025 Prices, SAAR)

## What this measures

Spending on private and public construction in the U.S. classed by Census as "water supply" each month, adjusted for changes in construction prices. Palanor divides the Census value put in place (construction.census.total.water, seasonally adjusted annual rate) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for final demand construction (bls_ppi_final_demand_construction, series WPSFD43) and rescales to 2025 prices: real = nominal × (the 2025 average of the index ÷ that month's index). Monthly from November 2009, the first month of the price index.

## Why it matters

Nominal spending rises when building costs rise, even if no more is being built. Taking out the price change shows whether the volume of construction is growing, which is what matters for jobs, materials demand and GDP.

## How to read it

Billions of 2025 dollars at an annual rate. Compare a month with the same month a year earlier for real growth; a nominal rise with a flat real series means prices did the work.

## What it does not say

The deflator is one price index for all construction bought as final demand (BLS splits it only into private capital investment and government), not a price index for each type of structure, so the real series for any single type are approximate: costs for homes, highways or power plants can move differently. The Census Bureau publishes no real series by type, and real structures investment in the national accounts (BEA) uses different price indexes, so it will not match. It counts the cost of building structures, including systems built into them such as heating and cooling; land and production equipment are left out. It is work put in place each month, not new projects or contracts. Each value is an annual rate, seasonally adjusted. The newest month is preliminary; Census revises recent months every release, and earlier years at its annual revision each July.

## Source

U.S. Census Bureau, Construction Spending (C30), value of construction put in place, seasonally adjusted annual rate. Public domain. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index for final demand construction (series WPSFD43), read from the BLS API. Public domain. Deflated by Palanor.