According to McGraw Hill Construction, new construction starts in August dropped nine percent, bringing construction activity back to its normal pace after July’s boost in energy-related manufacturing projects. Despite this fact, both highway and bridge construction experienced gains in the month of August.
Nonresidential building dropped 19 percent to $184.9 billion, with commercial building gaining 6 percent, store construction advancing to 27 percent and institutional building reaching 12 percent.
Nonbuilding construction dropped 12 percent at $120.1 billion, with the public works group down 6 percent. However, gains were reported for both highways and bridges, with highways up 7 percent and bridges up 9 percent.
Residential building grew 2 percent to $235.6 billion, caused mainly by multifamily housing raising to 10 percent. Although multifamily housing increased, single family housing fell 1 percent.
Finally, there was an overall 4 percent increase for total construction from January to August.
The Dodge Index now stands at 114, compared to 126 in July.
