Dive summary:

• While numbers released by the government showed the U.S. economy in the first quarter grew by 2.5%, most of the nonresidential fixed-investment money was going into equipment and software, not buildings or other structures.
• Structural spending actually contracted 0.3% in the quarter, and the numbers released last week show that, so far, the recovery is being driven by consumer spending.
• Reflecting that, residential fixed investment jumped 12.6% in the first three months of the year while government spending shrank again at the federal, state and local levels.

From the release:

“Investment in nonresidential structures actually declined in the quarter, a reflection of the fact that the nation’s recovery, to date, has been unable to support a sustained nonresidential construction recovery,” stated [Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Chief Economist Anirban] Basu. ...