Recently, a boom in building non-residential projects like industrial plants and infrastructure has been helping to offset the rising costs of home construction. The interest rate hikes have been weakening the home construction business, and labor shortages have made it even more expensive to finance construction jobs. However, amidst these trends there has also been an increase in construction activity of electric vehicle manufacturing plants and warehouses for e-commerce after the supply chain issues during the pandemic. Additionally, the government has increased spending on public works projects since the pandemic which has elevated construction activity. While there is a long backlog for these nonresidential projects though, industry leaders fear the tight labor market for construction workers will make it challenging to secure the necessary talent and labor to complete the jobs.
See "Despite post-pandemic surge in nonresidential construction projects, labor and talent shortages within the construction industry affecting job completions", Bob Tita, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2023