Data center construction continued to surge in June even as most private nonresidential construction remained sluggish, according to an analysis released Monday by the Associated Builders and Contractors.
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in June from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.277 trillion, based on U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the trade group. Both public and private nonresidential construction spending rose 0.1% in June.
The analysis found that spending on data center construction increased 7% in June and was 46% higher than a year earlier, continuing a building boom driven by growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure.
"Contractors working on these projects continue to benefit from this momentum," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
The strength of data center construction is masking broader weakness across the private nonresidential construction sector, Basu said. Private nonresidential construction spending has fallen to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $745.3 billion after reaching a record $806.1 billion in April 2025, a decline of more than 7%, Basu said.
Excluding data centers, private nonresidential construction spending fell 0.6% in June and was down 7.9% from a year earlier, according to the analysis.
The data center construction boom continues to be a major source of strength for the industry, and the ABC’s latest Construction Backlog Indicator reflects that. The 13% of contractors surveyed that are working on data center projects reported an average backlog of 11 months, compared with 8.5 months for the 87% of contractors without data center work.
