Nonresidential Construction Spending Down 0.2% in December; Data Centers and Manufacturing Make Up 94% of Spending Increase in 2024
National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.2% in December 2024, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.241 trillion.
Spending was down on a monthly basis in 9 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending increased 0.1%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 0.5% in December.
“Public sector nonresidential spending fell sharply in in the last month of 2024, but that decline was likely a short-term phenomenon as the transition between presidential administrations and cold weather delayed construction work,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While public sector activity should at least partially rebound in the coming months, high interest rates and an emerging trade war with Canada and Mexico will continue to weigh on many privately financed segments.
“What little private sector nonresidential momentum exists remains concentrated in just two segments,” said Basu. “Data centers, which are part of the office category, and manufacturing accounted for 94% of the increase in total nonresidential construction spending from December 2023 to December 2024. Activity in these segments, and perhaps only these segments, will remain elevated regardless of upward pressure on construction costs.”
Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings and the Producer Price Index.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 that represents more than 23,000 members. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC and its 67 chapters help members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work. Visit us at abc.org.