ConstructConnect’s October Expansion Index climbed to 1.29, marking its 15th consecutive month of positive growth—the longest sustained uptrend since the industry’s post-COVID ramp-up between 2021 and 2023.
Note: The Expansion Index tracks “ideated” construction investment (preconstruction projects in any stage of planning). Because these are future plans, they carry no strict guarantee of reaching groundbreaking or completion, and readings reflect growth in dollar values rather than raw project counts.
Key Takeaways
- Broad Growth by Category: Out of 10 tracked construction categories, nine posted year-over-year expansion.
- Commercial led all sectors with a reading of 2.23 (boosted heavily by planned data center developments).
- Government, Community, and Military sectors all saw greater than 40% expansion compared to the previous year.
- Industrial was the sole category to contract, though this was primarily attributed to an exceptionally high spending benchmark set in 2025 rather than fundamental weakness.
- Geographic Spread: Growth was widespread across the United States, with 49 states (including Washington, DC) registering growth readings over 1.0.
- 44 states posted expansion rates greater than 20%, led by Missouri, Montana and Alaska.
- Only Nebraska and Arizona saw contractions, with Arizona’s decline highlighting how massive individual megaprojects can artificially inflate a prior year’s baseline.
- Industry Outlook: Despite a noticeable performance gap between the highest and lowest-performing sectors and regions, the overall breadth of the expansion remains a healthy indicator for construction professionals targeting growth verticals.