Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts fell 6% in January after declining 2% in December 2024.
Nonresidential building construction fell 18% in January as commercial starts dropped 41% and manufacturing starts declined 16%. Institutional starts rose 4%.
Residential building construction fell 1% in January after growing 4% in December 2024. Single-family housing fell 2%, and multifamily starts rose 2%.
Nonbuilding construction increased 4% in January.
For the 12 months ending January, total construction starts were up 4% compared with the 12 months ending January 2024. Residential building rose 5%; nonbuilding construction rose 7%; and nonresidential building was unchanged.
“After robust data center starts in November and December, total office starts fell back in January to more historically typical levels and drove a sizable piece of the month-to-month decline,” said Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “However, most nonresidential sectors saw weakness over the month. Ongoing labor shortages and high material costs will continue to pose risks to the sector, along with concerns over tariffs and stricter immigration enforcement. Projects are likely to continue moving through the planning queue slowly, until the Federal Reserve resumes cutting rates in the back half of the year.”
