Construction Spending for Factories Soars, After Decades in the Doldrums

September 05, 2023

by Wolf Richter Wolf Street

Driven by manufacturing plants for technologically advanced, high-value products. Automation is the great equalizer.

Spending on construction projects for manufacturing plants in the US started breaking out of its long doldrums in January 2021. That month, about $6 billion was invested in building factories, same as in January 2015. But then monthly construction spending for factories began to spike and in July set a new record of nearly $17 billion, a notch up from June, according to the Census Bureau on Friday.