ConstructConnect reported in the Construction Economy Snapshot that year-to-date (YTD) regional construction activity has been generally positive for most coastal regions and yet difficult for much of mid-America.
Through July, YTD construction spending expanded the fastest in the South Atlantic (+24.2%) thanks to extreme growth in Virginia and South Carolina. Collectively, these two states have reported a doubling of starts spending YTD, with total nonresidential exceeding $40.6 billion.
The second-best performing region was the Pacific, with YTD growth of 12.8%, led by Alaska (+111%) and Washington (+41%).
Chief Economist Michael Guckes writes, "Across the middle of the country, results were far more austere." The West South Central region comprised of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas fell -21.6%. YTD construction spending in the critical state of Texas has fallen by -22.6%. Texas’s YTD performance is only slightly better than Louisiana’s (-24.7%) and almost equal to Oklahoma’s (-22.7%).
The growth of heavy engineering across much of the country continues to offset weak nonresidential building spending, according to Guckes.
Read the Construction Economy Snapshot for more details, including trend graphs, analysis, and commentary.
About ConstructConnect
Construction Starts Here™ at ConstructConnect, where our mission is to help the construction industry start every project on a solid foundation. A leading provider of software solutions for the preconstruction industry, ConstructConnect empowers commercial construction firms to streamline their workflows and maximize productivity. ConstructConnect operates as a business unit of Roper Technologies (Nasdaq: ROP), a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 1000.
About Marshall Benveniste
Marshall Benveniste is a writer and Senior Content Marketing Manager at ConstructConnect with the Economics Group. Marshall has written on various topics for the construction industry, including strategies for building product manufacturers, artificial intelligence in construction, and data-driven decision-making. Before joining ConstructConnect in 2021, Marshall spent 15 years in marketing communications for financial services and specialty construction firms. He holds a PhD in organizational management.