U.S. Nonresidential Construction Starts Jump to Record $77.2 Billion in May

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Key Points

May 2025 Nonresidential US Construction Starts were $77.2 billion, an increase of $12.8 billion, up 19.8% over last month.
��ֱ�� Chief Economist Michael Guckes reported that the latest results pushed nonresidential spending growth into positive territory for the first time this year, up 6.9%.
Only weak residential spending is now keeping total construction activity from moving into positive growth territory.

��ֱ�� announced today that the May 2025 volume of Total — the sum of Nonresidential Building and Civil Construction — was $77.2 billion, an increase of $12.8 billion, or 19.8%.

The latest results pushed Nonresidential spending growth into positive territory, up 6.9%, for the first time this year.

May Starts Provide Strong YTD Support

Monthly jumped to $77.2 billion, its highest reading in recorded history.

“Five megaprojects contributed over $30 billion to the month’s total starts spending, setting a record,” said ��ֱ�� Chief Economist, Michael Guckes.

“Strong megaproject activity in consecutive months has lifted the 12-month moving average of to $12.3 billion.”

CONSTRUCTCONNECT — Summary chart of Total US Construction Starts through May 31, 2025.

The remaining megaprojects were split between Transportation Terminals,��, and Tunnels. ��ֱ�� recorded 27 megaprojects totaling $67.9 billion in the YTD period through May.��

Michael Guckes, ��ֱ�� Chief Economist

Guckes added, “This is a 50% improvement over the recent low recorded during February, when average monthly��spending fell to a post-COVID low of just $8.4 billion.”

The majority of May’s megaproject spending was attributed to the recent��of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s new chip plant located in Phoenix, AZ.

The�� for the month transitioned manufacturing “from being among the five worst-performing subcategories YTD to now being among the top five best performers through May,” Guckes said.��

“May’s megaprojects spending once again emphasized the importance of very large projects in the��, accounting for 39% of the month’s total spending.”