Lodging construction ran at $25.0 billion in September 2026, 4.2% below a year earlier, while recreation building held near a record

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:41:31 -0500

Construction spending on lodging, which the Census Bureau defines as hotels, motels, resort lodging, tourist cabins and similar buildings, ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $25.0 billion in September 2026. A SAAR is one month’s spending, adjusted for the usual seasonal swings and scaled up to a full year. The September figure was virtually unchanged from August and 4.2% below September 2025. Lodging spending fell 14.8% from December 2024 to a low of $24.4 billion in May 2026, and in each month since June it has run between 2.4% and 3.1% above that low. The bureau released the preliminary September estimate on November 2.

Lodging construction has held near $25 billion since June 2026

Value of construction put in place, lodging, United States, millions of dollars, seasonally adjusted annual rate, monthly since January 2016

September 2026 is preliminary. Figures are not adjusted for price changes. Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The decline on the year narrowed from 9.4% in August to 4.2% in September. Most of that change comes from the month a year earlier: lodging spending fell 5.5% in September 2025, so September 2026 is compared with a lower base. Over a longer span, the September 2026 figure is 23.9% below September 2019 and 49.8% above the low of $16.7 billion in October 2021.

The same release revised August 2026 lodging spending from the $24,862 million first published on October 1 to $25,022 million, a revision of 0.6%.

Construction spending on lodging, the last 13 months, millions of dollars, SAAR. September 2026 is preliminary.
date	Lodging ($ millions SAAR)	Change on month (%)	Change on year (%)
2025-09-01	26,111	-5.5%	-4.4%
2025-10-01	26,622	2.0%	-2.3%
2025-11-01	26,089	-2.0%	-5.6%
2025-12-01	25,734	-1.4%	-9.9%
2026-01-01	24,646	-4.2%	-11.4%
2026-02-01	24,575	-0.3%	-9.6%
2026-03-01	24,488	-0.4%	-6.9%
2026-04-01	24,477	0.0%	-10.9%
2026-05-01	24,352	-0.5%	-10.6%
2026-06-01	24,925	2.4%	-7.6%
2026-07-01	25,109	0.7%	-8.0%
2026-08-01	25,022	-0.3%	-9.4%
2026-09-01	25,012	0.0%	-4.2%

Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

Hotels, parks and campuses

The release splits each type of building by owner. Private owners account for 94% of lodging spending: $23.6 billion in September, up 0.3% on the month and down 2.8% on the year.

Amusement and recreation, the category that holds parks, seasonal camps and tourist camps, as well as racetracks, bowling alleys, casinos and similar places, ran at $49.0 billion. That is 1.2% below August and 2.3% below the record of $50.2 billion set in October 2025, in a series that begins in 2002. Governments spent $25.8 billion of it, 1.7% less than a year earlier and 4.2% below their own October 2025 record. Private recreation spending was $23.2 billion, 1.2% above September 2025 and 2.0% below the record it reached in July 2026, in a series that begins in 1993.

Educational construction includes, among its higher education types, dormitories, student unions and cafeterias, and outdoor courts and fields. It ran at $137.6 billion, 2.6% below a year earlier. Private educational spending fell 7.4% on the year, and public spending fell 1.4%.

Construction spending by type and owner, millions of dollars, SAAR. September 2026 is preliminary and August 2026 is revised. 'All' includes public lodging and public and private recreation and education.
Type of construction	Owner	September 2025	August 2026	September 2026	Change on month (%)	Change on year (%)
Lodging	All	26,111	25,022	25,012	0.0%	-4.2%
Lodging	Private	24,285	23,533	23,593	0.3%	-2.8%
Amusement and recreation	All	49,186	49,598	49,026	-1.2%	-0.3%
Amusement and recreation	Private	22,920	23,505	23,200	-1.3%	1.2%
Amusement and recreation	Public	26,266	26,093	25,826	-1.0%	-1.7%
Educational	All	141,206	137,756	137,588	-0.1%	-2.6%
Educational	Private	26,477	24,678	24,519	-0.6%	-7.4%
Educational	Public	114,729	113,078	113,069	0.0%	-1.4%

Source: census.gov

Public and private recreation building have both risen since 2016

Value of construction put in place, amusement and recreation, United States, by owner, millions of dollars, seasonally adjusted annual rate, monthly

Public ($ millions SAAR)
Private ($ millions SAAR)

September 2026 is preliminary. Figures are not adjusted for price changes. Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The year so far

The bureau also publishes totals for the first nine months of the year without seasonal adjustment. These are dollars spent, not annual rates. From January to September 2026, lodging construction came to $18.5 billion, 8.8% less than in the same months of 2025. Recreation construction came to $36.7 billion, 3.8% more, with private spending up 6.3% and public spending up 1.6%. Educational construction was 2.5% lower.

Construction spending, January to September, millions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted. 2026 figures are preliminary.
Type of construction	Owner	January to September 2025	January to September 2026	Change (%)
Lodging	All	20,319	18,538	-8.8%
Lodging	Private	19,291	17,479	-9.4%
Amusement and recreation	All	35,395	36,731	3.8%
Amusement and recreation	Private	16,393	17,425	6.3%
Amusement and recreation	Public	19,001	19,306	1.6%
Educational	All	107,772	105,102	-2.5%
Educational	Private	19,592	18,913	-3.5%
Educational	Public	88,180	86,188	-2.3%

Source: census.gov

The Census Bureau’s advance estimate puts September 2026 sales at food services and drinking places at $92.9 billion, seasonally adjusted, 7.0% above September 2025. An advance estimate is an early figure from a subsample of about 4,800 retail and food service firms. September was the eighth monthly increase in a row and the highest monthly figure in a series that begins in 1992.

Part of that gain is price. The consumer price index for food away from home, which tracks what restaurants and other food outlets charge, rose 3.5% from September 2025 to September 2026, seasonally adjusted. Sales grew about twice as fast as menu prices over the year, so roughly half of the gain came from higher prices.

Restaurant and bar sales grew twice as fast as menu prices in the year to September 2026

Change on the same month a year earlier: retail sales at food services and drinking places, and the consumer price index for food away from home, both seasonally adjusted

Sales change on the year (%)
Menu price change on the year (%)

September 2026 sales are an advance estimate. The October 2025 value of the price index is not available in the series. Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

Reading the figures for a furniture budget

The construction series measures building activity, and furniture orders are a separate step. The bureau’s definition of the value of construction put in place counts materials installed at the site, labor, a share of equipment rental, contractor profit, architectural and engineering work, overhead charged to the project, and interest and taxes during construction. Movable furniture is not on that list. A lower lodging figure means less hotel building under way. It does not count a property that replaces its pool chairs without other work.

Read several months together before treating one month as a change in direction. The release notes say it may take as long as 8 months to establish an underlying trend for a specific type of construction. The year-to-date table is the steadier guide: lodging down 8.8%, recreation up 3.8%.

For a price discussion with a dealer, pair this release with the producer price index for institutional furniture, which hit a record in September. Duties on imported seats and tables are a separate cost, covered in the tariff guide.

Caveats

Every September 2026 figure here is preliminary. The bureau’s notes put the average change from the preliminary estimate to the first revision at 0.75% for private construction and 0.59% for public construction. The October 2026 construction figures are scheduled for December 1, 2026, and the October retail sales figures for November 17, 2026.

The construction figures carry sampling error, the gap between a survey estimate and a full count. The bureau’s standard error for lodging’s change on the year is 3.5%. It calls a change significant only when its 90 percent confidence range excludes zero, and by that test the 4.2% decline on the year cannot be told apart from no change. The standard error for lodging’s change on the month is 1.0%.

Neither construction spending nor food services sales is adjusted for price changes. A flat dollar figure for lodging can hide a drop in the amount of building if construction costs rose.

All figures are national. This release has no breakdown by state or region.

Parks and recreation | Commercial Outdoor Furniture

Lodging construction ran at $25.0 billion in September 2026, 4.2% below a year earlier, while recreation building held near a record

Hotels, parks and campuses

The year so far

Restaurant sales and menu prices

Reading the figures for a furniture budget

Caveats