U.S. Census

Construction Spending

Total Construction

Construction spending during January 2025 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,192.5 billion, 0.2 percent (±0.7 percent)* below the revised December estimate of $2,196.0 billion. The January figure is 3.3 percent (±1.3 percent) above the January 2024 estimate of $2,122.2 billion.

Private Construction

Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,686.0 billion, 0.2 percent (±0.7 percent)* below the revised December estimate of $1,690.1 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $932.7 billion in January, 0.4 percent (±1.3 percent)* below the revised December estimate of $936.9 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $753.3 billion in January, virtually unchanged from (±0.7 percent)* the revised December estimate of $753.2 billion.

Public Construction

In January, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $506.6 billion, 0.1 percent (±1.3 percent)* above the revised December estimate of $505.9 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $109.8 billion, 0.4 percent (±2.0 percent)* below the revised December estimate of $110.3 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $145.0 billion, 0.6 percent (±3.9 percent)* above the revised December estimate of $144.1 billion.

* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

Construction Confidence Index

The construction industry added 19,000 jobs on net in February, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has increased by 174,000 jobs, an increase of 2.1%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 6,200 positions on net, with growth in all three subcategories. Heavy and civil engineering added the most jobs, increasing by 2,500 positions, followed by nonresidential specialty trade, which added 2,000 jobs. Nonresidential building added 1,700 jobs last month.

The construction unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in February. Unemployment across all industries increased from 4.0% in January to 4.1% last month.

“The February jobs report suggests that contractors’ ongoing optimism, as seen in ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, is justified,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The industry added 19,000 jobs in February, making it the strongest month of growth since the third quarter of 2024, and the sizable jump in the industry unemployment rate indicates that the labor supply can accommodate ongoing hiring.

“Economywide job growth was also perfectly decent, with U.S. employers adding 151,000 jobs last month. Following several weeks of concerning economic data and rising economic uncertainty, a good-but-boring jobs report is a welcome development,” said Basu. “Federal government employment declined by 10,000 and will likely fall further in the coming months, but that segment is just 2% of overall employment. Federal job and spending cuts, as well as elevated uncertainty, could eventually diminish construction activity at the margins, but those effects have yet to appear in these employment data.”

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.

“Nonresidential input prices increased at a rapid pace in February and have risen at a far-too-hot 9.0% annualized rate through the first two months of 2025,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Iron and steel prices rose at a particularly fast rate in February, a result of tariffs providing domestic producers with increased pricing power.

“Despite the sizable increase over the past two months, nonresidential input prices are still down on a year-over-year basis,” said Basu. “That will likely change in the coming months as tariffs continue to put upward pressure on prices. While ABC members are, on balance, still optimistic about their profit margins, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, 23% of them expect their profitability to decline over the next six months, the highest share since October 2024.”

Dodge Construction Network

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, grew 0.7% in February to 225.6 (2000=100) from the revised January reading of 223.9. Over the month, commercial planning increased 3.3% while institutional planning fell 4.6%.

“Planning momentum moderated in February, after a few months of stronger growth,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “Data centers continue to prop up growth in the overall index. Without them, the DMI would have decreased 2% this month. Increased uncertainty around material prices and fiscal policies may begin to weigh on planning decisions, but for the time being, planning activity is largely continuing to move forward.”

On the commercial side, data center, traditional office building, and retail planning led this month’s gains, while weaker education planning brought down the institutional portion. In February, the DMI was up 27% when compared to year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 43% from February 2024, while the institutional segment was up 2% over the same period. The influence of data centers on the DMI this year remains substantial. If we remove all data center projects between 2023 and 2025, commercial planning would be up 12% from year-ago levels, and the entire DMI would be up 8%.

A total of 26 projects valued at $100 million or more entered planning throughout February. The largest commercial projects included the $500 million Tract Data Center Park in Chester, Virginia, and the SAT93 and SAT94 Microsoft Data Center projects in San Antonio, Texas – each valued at $350 million. The largest institutional projects to enter planning were the $329 million Burlington High School in Burlington, Massachusetts, the $300 million T-Mobile Arena renovation in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the $300 million North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown, North Dakota.

The DMI is a monthly measure of the value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.

Third Annual Study of PPE Pain Points

1. J. Keller & Associate, Inc., a leading provider of safety and compliance solutions, and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) recently joined forces to conduct a comprehensive study on top challenges when it comes to managing PPE procurement and proper usage. The results of the study, titled “2025 PPE Pain Points Study: Top Trends and Challenges,” were released in March. The public can download the study report on the J. J. Keller® website, and members of ISEA can download the study report on the association’s website.
2. J. Keller and ISEA experts will host a free webcast titled “2025 PPE Pain Points Study: Key Insights, Challenges, and Solutions,” examining the greatest pain points and practical ways to address them, on April 17, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. central time. The public may register here.

Respondents qualifying to take the survey have responsibility for purchasing and/or managing PPE across a range of industries. The survey was fielded in October 2024.

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Summary of Key Findings

• PPE Management Is Generally Strong.  Of those responding to the survey, 95% completely or somewhat have the time and resources needed to properly assess PPE needs, and 70% talk with their employees regularly about PPE.

• Getting Employees to Always Wear PPE Continues to Be a Challenge.  More than 75% of respondents reported that at least some of the time, they have difficulty getting employees to wear PPE.

• Durability is the Number One Criteria When Purchasing PPE.  More than one-third of respondents prioritize durability, followed by comfort, emphasizing the need for PPE that workers can and will consistently wear.

• Challenges Occur in Finding PPE in Larger and Smaller Sizes.  While 75% of respondents have not experienced problems buying PPE in the sizes they need, those who have had issues find difficulty locating larger and smaller sizes.

• Weather Is a Consideration, but There’s More Opportunity Here. While 84% of respondents factor weather conditions into PPE purchases, there is a growing need for more education on selecting PPE optimized for extreme temperatures.

• Women’s Sizing Are Increasingly Considered. More companies are prioritizing PPE designed for women, though nearly one-third of respondents still face challenges in finding properly fitting options.

• Training Is a Challenge.  Nearly half of respondents struggle with training employees on critical PPE usage aspects, including when PPE is necessary, how to properly wear it, and its limitations.