U.S. Construction Spending Jumps 0.9% in August, Beating Expectations of Roughly Flat

U.S. construction spending jumped 0.9% in August. Wall Street expected roughly flat. Another upside surprise that does not fit the weak-economy narrative.
The detail that matters is the split. Housing construction is frozen, choked by 7%-plus mortgage rates. Business construction keeps rising, led by offices up 4.6% and power plants, part of the electricity buildout for data centers and AI.
This is a two-speed economy. Rate-sensitive housing is dead, business capex is expanding. Business investment is holding growth up while housing and hiring soften. That is the economy the weak-jobs headline misses.