New construction volume climbed 13% in October from the
previous month’s level, to a $591.1-billion annual rate, thanks largely to an
upturn in the nonresidential sector, says Dodge Data and Analytics.
Dodge D&A’s latest monthly report on projected
construction spending, released on Nov. 20, also shows that construction starts
for the first 10 months of 2015 were up 10% from the same period last year, to
$551.9 billion. The month-to-month figures are seasonally adjusted; the
year-to-date numbers are not.
In addition, Dodge said that its October Dodge Index rose
to 125 from September’s 111. The index’s base year, when it stood at 100, is
2000.
Robert Murray, Dodge chief economist, said in a
statement, “The healthy increase for construction starts in October alleviates
concern about a stalling expansion that may have arisen with the sluggish
activity in August and September.”
New construction's estimated volume fell 5% in September
after posting an 11% month-to-month drop in August, according to Dodge.
Nonresidential projects soared 32% in October to a
$200.7-billion seasonally adjusted annual rate. Dodge said construction of
retail stores leaped 56%, including a $561-million expansion and upgrade of the
Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles.
In another key nonresidential segment, office building
was up 45%, including a $570-million first phase of a Facebook data center in
Fort Worth, Texas, and a $300-million Google data center expansion in Lithia
Springs, Ga.
Residential building moved up 9% to a $260.3-billion
annual rate as 11 multifamily projects of $100 million or more got under way in
October.
The sour note was sounded in nonbuilding construction,
whose projected volume dipped 3%, to a $130.2-billion yearly rate. Dodge noted
that electric utility and natural-gas project starts tumbled 21%.
(ENR was part of Dodge D&A until July, when BNP Media
acquired it. Earlier, ENR and Dodge were both units of McGraw-Hill Financial
and its predecessor companies.)
Source: ENR
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