Nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in April and is up 0.3% compared with April 2025, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.
For public construction, spending was up 0.4% for the month and is up 3.7% year to date. Private nonresidential spending decreased 0.2% in April and 2.1% year to date. Spending was up for the month in 10 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories.
“Nonresidential construction spending inched higher in April, but that growth was entirely due to a sizable increase in public sector activity,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Private nonresidential construction spending fell for the seventh consecutive month and is down nearly 8% from December 2023’s all-time high. While much of the segment’s recent weakness is attributable to the rapid decline in CHIPS Act-incentivized manufacturing megaprojects, private sector construction momentum has been difficult to find outside of the still-ascendant data center segment.
“Those data center projects have buoyed the ABC Construction Backlog Indicator and kept ABC members confident about their outlooks, at least on the whole,” Basu continued. “While that particular tailwind will persist for some time, rising materials prices and a lack of momentum in many commercial segments may eventually weigh on contractor sentiment.”
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