{"id":35643,"date":"2026-06-03T17:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/data-center-construction-spending-rocketed-28-in-the-last-year\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T17:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:46:18","slug":"data-center-construction-spending-rocketed-28-in-the-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/data-center-construction-spending-rocketed-28-in-the-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Data center construction spending rocketed 28% in the last year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?313321260226\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<\/p>\n<p>            <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/821894\/2026-06-03_14.47.54\/data-center-construction-spending-april.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.org\/News-Media\/News-Releases\/abc-nonresidential-construction-spending-grows-on-public-sector-strength-in-april\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Spending on data center construction<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> has boomed 28.1% over the past year, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $50.7 billion in April, according to an analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Outside of that boom, momentum elsewhere \u201chas been difficult to find,\u201d said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist. Nonresidential construction spending ticked up just 0.1% month over month in April, according to the ABC report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Public projects and data centers accounted for most of the nominal growth, as expenditures on private construction fell for the seventh consecutive month in April, according to the report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The results suggest strong activity around fewer types of projects, mostly data centers but also highway and infrastructure work, said Basu.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cNonresidential construction spending inched higher in April, but that growth was entirely due to a sizable increase in public sector activity,\u201d said Basu. \u201cPrivate sector construction momentum has been difficult to find outside of the still-ascendant data center segment.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Much of that weakness stems from the manufacturing construction sector, said Basu. Spending on manufacturing projects tumbled 1.2% month over month in April and is down 18.4% over the past year. Commercial construction also dropped, down 0.5% in April compared to March, according to the ABC report.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>But data centers are still fueling optimism, even as the rest of the market weakens.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThose data center projects have buoyed the ABC Construction Backlog Indicator and kept ABC members confident about their outlooks, at least on the whole,\u201d said Basu. \u201cWhile 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.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Public construction spending increased 0.4% month over month in April and jumped 3.7% higher than a year earlier, according to the data. The largest public category, highway and street construction, increased 0.4% month over month in April and 4% over the past year.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"-\" src=\"https:\/\/www.abc.org\/Portals\/1\/CEU\/Spending_Table_6.1.26.jpg?ver=-x37VGRywRI72F-IrruODA%3d%3d\"><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Lawmakers now face a Sept. 30 deadline to renew federal surface transportation funding. Associated General Contractors of America said the step is critical to maintain <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agc.org\/index%2Ephp\/news\/2026\/06\/01\/construction-spending-rises-09-percent-annually-april-association-urges-officials-renew-highway-and\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>momentum in highway construction<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cAny lapse in funding these vital projects would force contractors to sideline construction workers and delay purchasing needed equipment and materials,\u201d said AGC CEO Jeffrey Shoaf. \u201cThat would be a significant setback for the economy overall.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The highway and street segment alone accounts for more than a quarter of total public construction spending, AGC reported.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cHighway construction has been a major contributor to total nonresidential spending,\u201d said Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist. \u201cFor the past several months, total spending has increased only when there was a rise in year over year highway construction activity.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/data-center-construction-spending-april\/821894\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"Data center construction spending rocketed 28% in the last year\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/data-center-construction-spending-rocketed-28-in-the-last-year\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Data center construction spending rocketed 28% in the last year\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}