Dive Brief:
- Total construction spending in June was down 3.2% from the same month a year prior, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday. Construction spending for the month was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.16 billion.
- Private nonresidential construction spending in June was up 0.1% month to month, but dropped 4.7% year over year, according to analysis from Associated Builders and Contractors.
- Spending declined in eight out of 16 categories measured by ABC. The health of the industry continues to be anchored by data center spending, wrote Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist.
Dive Insight:
In April 2025, private nonresidential spending leapt to a seasonally adjusted all-time high, Basu said. In the 14 months since, that figure has only risen three times, he said.
“Despite an ongoing data center construction boom, private nonresidential construction spending has declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $745.3 billion since the April 2025 peak, which translates into a decline exceeding 7%,” said Basu. “Tellingly, private nonresidential construction spending excluding data centers fell 0.6% in June 2026 and is down 7.9% year over year.”
The 13% of ABC members with data center contracts on the books have 11 months of backlog, two and a half more months than the 87% of those that don’t, said Basu.
In an analysis of the report, the Associated General Contractors of America continued to urge the federal government to reinvest in infrastructure spending.
“We're beginning to see weakness spread across much of the construction market," said Macrina Wilkins, the association's director of market insights. "While data centers and a handful of other segments remain bright spots, the largest public category—highway construction—is at risk of a sharp decrease if Congress fails to renew federal funding before the current law expires at the end of next month.”
