The Preconomist

Real construction spending fell across nearly every category in May. Total real spending is down 0.9 percent month over month and 5.4 percent year over year. What is worth watching is the one category that had been holding the broader numbers up, data centers have also turned negative on a monthly basis for the first time this cycle.   Where is the pullback concentrated? Virtually everywhere. Nonresidential is down 1.0 percent month over month and 7.6 percent year over year. Manufacturing is the worst category, down 2.4 percent month over month and 25 percent year over year. Office (ex-data centers) is down 1.2 percent month over month and 15 percent year over year. Commercial, warehouse, lodging, and both private and public education categories are also negative. Multifamily and infrastructure are also negative year over year, down 0.8 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, but far more modestly than the categories above. They are softening, not collapsing. What about data cent...