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Total construction spending rose 0.4% in April, compared with March, according to data recently released by the US Census Bureau. In annual terms, spending was 0.9% higher than in April 2025.
Residential construction spending accounted for most of the increase, rising 0.8% month-on-month, while non-residential spending rose just 0.1% over the same period. “Nonresidential construction spending edged up in April, but that growth was driven entirely by a sizeable increase in public sector activity,” Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, said in a statement.
Ken Simonson, chief economist at Associated General Contractors, pointed to highway construction as a “major contributor” to current spending. “Over the past few months, total spending has only increased when there was an increase in year-over-year highway construction activity,” Simonson said in a news release.
Public spending on non-residential construction rose 0.4% from March and 3.7% year-on-year, while private non-residential spending fell 0.2% for the month and 2.1% for the year. Manufacturing spending saw the largest decline both monthly and annually, at a rate of 1.2% and 18.4%, respectively.
“Private non-residential construction spending fell for the seventh consecutive month and is down nearly 8% from the all-time high in December 2023,” Basu said. “While much of the segment’s recent weakness is attributable to the rapid decline in manufacturing megaprojects spurred by the CHIPS Act, private-sector construction momentum has been hard to find outside of the still-rising data center segment.”
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