Multifamily housing was a big part of the increase. But there is still high demand for single-family homes.

About a quarter of construction workers are immigrants. They may be vulnerable at a time when more housing is needed across the country.

Meanwhile, commercial and government construction spending actually fell.

A shortage of skilled labor, high labor costs, and uncertainty about the effect of tariffs on lumber prices weigh on some homebuilders.

“It would be definitely a bucket list of mine to get to visit all of them in my lifetime,” said Annilee Waterman, a residential designer in Dallas.

It has to do with building new data centers and retrofitting old office buildings.

Chen Peng wanted a home to attract a wife. Condo projects fraught with financial and legal battles made him wait nearly a decade.

In the midst of a lagging housing market, builders hope for easier terms on mortgages and construction loans.

Slowing demand in construction and manufacturing in the U.S. and around the globe have pulled steel prices lower for months.

Even massive government spending hasn’t been enough to counteract the downturn.