According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as of July this year, seasonally adjusted spending on private data center construction reached $37 billion, an increase of approximately $9 billion compared to the same period last year.
In the first seven months of this year, excluding all other projects such as houses, apartment buildings, and shopping malls, private construction spending was approximately $46 billion lower than the same period last year.
Hyperscale data centers consume large amounts of scarce labor and electricity, driving up costs for other businesses. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond stated that data center construction is exacerbating the local labor shortage.
Last year, Mississippi participated in the bidding for an aluminum smelter, which was expected to provide approximately 1,000 permanent jobs. However, according to a source familiar with the matter, a data center announced construction near Vicksburg, one of the proposed sites, would consume the smelter's required electricity. Therefore, the smelter ultimately chose Oklahoma.
