Trump’s factory boom isn’t what it looks like

Industry data show that much of the recent surge in construction jobs is tied to data centers and the power infrastructure that supports them, not new factories.

President Donald Trump speaks at Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Ga. on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP

President Donald Trump is seizing on a spike in construction jobs as proof that his push to lure factories back to the U.S. is working — and that an economic boom is on the horizon.

The cranes dotting American skylines tell a more complicated story.

Industry data show that much of the recent surge in construction jobs is tied to data centers and the power infrastructure that supports them, not a wave of new factories backed by fresh investment pledges Trump has secured. That matters because factories tend to employ far more people than data centers, one of the main reasons communities have been more receptive to the former setting up shop in their towns.

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