Nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% from August to September and is up 4.9% compared with September 2023, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.
For public construction, spending increased 0.4% for the month and is up 7% year to date. Private nonresidential spending fell 0.1% from August to September but is up 3.5% year to date. Spending was up for the month in eight of the 16 nonresidential subcategories.
“Construction spending inched higher in September, with growth fueled by ongoing infrastructure investment,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Spending accelerated in several publicly funded segments in September, including highway and street, sewage and waste disposal and water supply. The privately funded nonresidential construction segment didn’t perform as well for the month, with spending in that segment contracting for the second time in the past three months.
“Despite September’s decline, private nonresidential construction spending remains less than 1% below the all-time high established in June,” Basu continued. “Given ongoing manufacturing megaprojects and healthy backlog levels, according to ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, the nonresidential segment should hold up well as the industry waits for lower borrowing costs and looser lending standards to arrive.”
