National nonresidential construction spending was down by 0.5% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $829.4 billion for the month.

Spending was down on a monthly basis in eight of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Both private and public nonresidential spending fell by 0.5% in June.  

“There continues to be significant downward pressure on nonresidential construction spending volumes, and that is likely to intensify going forward,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “To date, construction spending measured in dollars has been propped up by elevated construction delivery costs, including higher materials prices and rapidly rising wages.

“Despite those inflationary pressures, aggregate nonresidential construction spending has failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels in nominal terms. The situation looks even worse when adjusting for inflation.”

Construction input prices increased 1.9% in June compared to the previous month, according to an ABC analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 1.8% for the month.

Construction input prices are up 20.1% from a year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 20.3% higher. On a monthly basis, input prices were down in four of 11 subcategories in June, with the largest decline registered in the softwood lumber category (-24.8%). All three energy subcategories experienced price increases, with natural gas prices rising 24.3% for the month.