Quick Read – Manufacturing construction spending has collapsed 32% since Biden left office as CHIPS megaprojects wind down and IRA clean-energy plants are cancelled. – The ISM manufacturing index hit 55.6 in July, a 4-year high, with factory employment expanding for the first…
me in 33 months. – Today’s production boom runs on Biden-era factories; a shrinking construction pipeline now quietly threatens U.S. manufacturing output in 2028 and beyond. – Donald Trump ran on rebuilding American factories. The building part is going the wrong way
Manufacturing construction spending in the United States is now down roughly 32% from its 2024 peak, reached in the final months of the Biden administration, according to a chart circulated this week by economist Joey Politano. The federal data behind it is stark: real dollars poured into new factory shells, chip fabs, and battery plants have slid from $211,142 million in August 2025 to $172,674 million in June 2026, a downward trajectory every month in between. America’s factory construction spending has declined significantly, falling ~32% from its 2024 peak by June 2026, driven by factors like finishing CHIPS Act projects and cancelled IRA initiatives.
This decline occurs despite strong current manufacturing production and profits. The causes are clear. CHIPS Act megaprojects are finishing up and rolling off, with no comparable wave of new mega-fabs breaking ground behind them.