U.S. Census
Total Construction
Construction spending during October 2024 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,174.0 billion, 0.4 percent (±1.2 percent)* above the revised September estimate of $2,164.7 billion. The October figure is 5.0 percent (±1.5 percent) above the October 2023 estimate of $2,071.1 billion. During the first ten months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,814.8 billion, 7.2 percent (±1.2 percent) above the $1,693.2 billion for the same period in 2023.
Private Construction
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,676.4 billion, 0.7 percent (±0.7 percent)* above the revised September estimate of $1,664.7 billion. Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $934.0 billion in October, 1.5 percent (±1.3 percent) above the revised September estimate of $920.3 billion. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $742.3 billion in October, 0.3 percent (±0.7 percent)* below the revised September estimate of $744.4 billion.
Public Construction
In October, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $497.6 billion, 0.5 percent (±2.0 percent)* below the revised September estimate of $500.0 billion. Educational construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $105.3 billion, 0.4 percent (±2.5 percent)* below the revised September estimate of $105.7 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $141.1 billion, 0.7 percent (±5.3 percent)* below the revised September estimate of $142.1 billion.
ABC
The construction industry added 10,000 jobs on net in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by 211,000 jobs, an increase of 2.6%.
Nonresidential construction employment increased by 6,800 positions on net, with growth in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs on net, with employment in the category increasing by 7,000 positions. Heavy and civil engineering added 1,500 jobs, while nonresidential building lost 1,700 jobs last month.
The construction unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November. Unemployment across all industries rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in October.
“While the construction industry added just 10,000 jobs in November, industrywide employment growth has still significantly outpaced the broader economy over the past year,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “More importantly, economywide job gains rebounded in November, confirming October’s paltry job growth was indeed a result of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“The combination of relatively cool payroll employment growth over the past three months, combined with a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, increases the odds that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at their December meeting, though the greater determinant will be the Consumer Price Index data released next week,” said Basu. “For the construction industry, there is plenty of reason for optimism, given the prospect of lower interest rates and that contractors broadly expect their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”
Report Shows Offsite Construction Teams Grow and Facilities Diversify
New data from BuiltWorlds’ 2024 Offsite Construction Annual Benchmarking Report sheds new light on where and how the wider industry is interacting with and adopting the approach to building.
Monday, December 2, 2024 (Chicago, Illinois) — BuiltWorlds’ recently released 2024 Offsite Construction Annual Benchmarking Report paints the sector as one in the midst of an evolution, revealing widespread internal prioritization of offsite construction as well as increasingly diversified facilities and methods.
“Offsite construction, particularly prefabrication and modularization, is experiencing rapid growth and innovation across residential and commercial applications,” the report reads. “As more and more groups look to implement offsite construction into their daily operations, the need for dedicated teams and facilities to deliver is growing in unison.”
Data Shows More Offsite-Dedicated Teams and Diversified Facilities
The report showed that from 2023 to 2024, contractors with teams dedicated to offsite construction jumped from 46% to 54%. However, while respondents reported an increase of offsite-specific staff, that didn’t translate to an increase in dedicated facilities.
The report reads, “Despite growing offsite teams and adoption of the delivery method more generally, data from the 2024 annual survey shows no meaningful change in the percentage of respondents with their own facilities for prefabrication and modularization.”
Still, despite negligible growth in contractor-owned offsite facilities, the functionality of those existing facilities does appear to be expanding. Since our last survey, single-trade facilities have decreased, falling from 24.4% in 2023 to 16.2% in 2024, while multi-trade facilities have significantly increased, rising from 22.2% to now 35.1%.
“By including multiple trades in a prefab or modular facility, builders can streamline construction processes, improve efficiency and coordination across trades, reducing overall costs—all of which impact a project’s speed to market,” says BuiltWorlds Senior Research Analyst Sean Wrenn, who authored the report. “Ultimately, organizations distancing themselves from single-trade facilities enable them to consolidate workflows, reduce redundancy, and improve integration across trades. While the initial investment may be higher, the long-term benefits in efficiency, quality, and cost savings often outweigh those of single-trade facilities.”
Where Offsite Construction Is Strongest
When asked what components were best suited to modular and prefab construction systems, contractors pointed to MEP (23%), wall panels (17.2%), bathroom pods (16.4%), building envelope (14.8%), and structural framing (13.9%)—which is much in line with last year’s report. It was the same consistency when asked what components didn’t suit the building approach.
“There were several materials that survey respondents didn’t feel worked as well for offsite construction,” the report reads, “such as hybrid components, concrete, cement fiber, masonry units, floorcovering, and glass.”
While this consistency reaffirms what we already know (ie, that certain components are better suited to offsite construction so far as the technology and factories supporting the industry currently exist) Wrenn, who leads our offsite research, provides a bit of clarity on what specific areas of construction offsite techniques are being most implemented.
“Offsite construction has seen the most growth in highly repeatable sectors, such as data centers or multifamily structures, often composed of standardized units or components,” says Wrenn, adding that he’s also seen an uptick in offsite residential. “Many startups entering the offsite space specifically target this segment as a response to the dwindling stock of affordable housing.”
Still, while those sectors currently appear to be the most ripe areas for offsite construction, the technology’s potential promises conceivable applications throughout the built world.
About BuiltWorlds: BuiltWorlds was born out of the belief that connection, innovation and informed decision making leads to better business outcomes. It is the basis around which we have built a robust, engaged community of buildings and infrastructure leaders, innovators and stakeholders.
Through focused research and accompanying analysis, our robust digital platform, and a growing schedule of educational conferences, summits and events, we equip and enable members with differentiating insights into vetted strategies and proven technologies, providing unique market advantages and business opportunities. We are the industry’s nexus, where information meets application.
Dodge Momentum Index Slides 2% in November
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, decreased 2.3% in November to 191.5 (2000=100) from the revised October reading of 196.0. Over the month, commercial planning fell 4.6% while institutional planning improved 2.5%.
“Throughout 2024, we’ve seen robust growth in nonresidential planning activity – but labor shortages and high construction costs have prevented those projects from moving through the planning process at a normal pace. The current backlog may be constraining demand for commercial planning in the short-term,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “Uncertainty over new tariff and immigration policies under President-elect Trump’s administration may also generate some pause with developers, although it’s a bit too early to tell if that’s the primary factor here. Overall, easing monetary policy will help alleviate the backlog of projects in the planning queue throughout 2025 and spur more demand for projects in the coming months.”
On the commercial side, slower data center, office, warehouse and retail planning drove much of this month’s decline, while strong growth in education planning informed much of the growth on the institutional side. The institutional portion of the DMI has grown in 5 of the last 6 months.
In November, the DMI was 12% higher than year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 13% from November 2023, while the institutional segment was up 8% over the same period. The influence of data centers on the DMI this year has been substantial. If we remove all data center projects in 2023 and 2024, commercial planning would be down 6% from year-ago levels, and the entire DMI would be down 1%.
A total of 17 projects valued at $100 million or more entered planning throughout November. The largest commercial projects included $350 million Bally’s Hotel Tower and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and the $312 million Accokeek Data Center in Stafford, Virginia. The largest institutional projects to enter planning were the $465 million student dormitory at UC Berkeley, California and the $323 million Intensive Treatment Tower at Texas Health Presbyterian in Plano, Texas.
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.
