Nonresidential Construction Spending Falls Sharply in January

WASHINGTON, DC — National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.4% in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the US Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.190 trillion.

Spending was down on a monthly basis in 10 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending fell 0.1%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 1.0% in January.

“Nonresidential construction spending fell sharply in January, ending a 19-month streak of monthly gains,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Some of this decrease is due to weather-related factors. That’s especially true in infrastructure categories like highway and street and water supply, both of which exhibited steep declines in spending to start the year but should remain elevated through 2024.

“Construction spending in the manufacturing category, on the other hand, continued to surge in January,” said Basu. “Manufacturing now accounts for nearly $1 of every $5 of nonresidential construction spending.

“Despite January’s disappointing data, nonresidential construction spending is still up more than 17% over the past year,” said Basu. “Given that year-over-year strength and the fact that a majority of contractors expect their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, spending is likely to rebound over the coming months.”

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.