‘Difficult to contextualise’ size of US data centre construction boom

That’s the view of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) chief economist Anirban Basu, as national non-residential spending increased 0.7% in August, according to ABC analysis of US Census Bureau figures.

On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, non-residential spending has totalled $1.309 trillion, according to the ABC.

Spending was up on a monthly basis in 11 of the 16 non-residential subcategories, with private non-residential spending in August up 1%, while public non-residential spending was up 0.2%.

“Non-residential construction spending increased for the fifth consecutive month in August as data centre investment accelerates,” said Basu. “Frankly, it’s becoming difficult to contextualise the size and speed of this boom. Data centre construction spending leapt another 7.5% in August and is now up more than 73% over the past 12 months.”

He noted that increases have been particularly large over the past four months.

But spending in several other segments was also “surprisingly strong”, according to Basu, with manufacturing spending increasing on a monthly basis for the first time since January and steady growth in certain public categories.

Basu nonetheless forecast that momentum would remain confined to the data centre and power categories in the months to come.

Separately, the Associated Builders and Contractors of America (AGC) called again for US Congress to act on a long-term highway funding bill as soon as possible, warning that the recent improvement in spending was otherwise “at risk of stalling or reversing”.

It noted that although spending was up 0.9% in August from July at a total of $2.2 trillion, it was still 1.7% below the August 2025 level.

The AGC’s analysis fund that the largest segment of non-residential construction, manufacturing, was unchanged in August after a string of declines but was still 20% below the total of a year ago. The next largest category, power, was up 0.9% for the month and nearly 10% over 12 months.

Private residential construction rose 1.1% for the month but was 4.8% down on August 2025.

In public construction, the largest category of highway and street construction increased just 0.1% on a monthly basis and was 4.4% higher than the year before.

“It is encouraging to see several construction segments stabilised or turned positive in August,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “However, all of these categories remain at risk of stagnating or shrinking as workforce shortages continue to grow, materials costs and interest rates continue to increase, and gridlock in Congress continues to undermine federal funding for highway and transit programmes.”