February contracts decrease 7 percent
McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos., New York, has reported construction starts decreased 7 percent in February. For the 12 months ending in February, total construction was down 2 percent compared with the 12 months ending February 2011."The pace of construction starts during the first two months of 2012 was subdued, retreating to the lower end of its recent range," says Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "Renewed expansion for the construction industry still is struggling to take hold, with gains for a few project types—such as multifamily housing—being outweighed by declines for project types that are largely publicly financed. This especially was the case in February, when much of the downward pull came from weakness for public works and institutional building."
Nonresidential building construction fell 7 percent in February. In the commercial category, store construction rose 35 percent; office construction climbed 11 percent; manufacturing plant construction increased 9 percent; warehouse construction fell 8 percent; and hotel construction slipped 47 percent. In the institutional category, transportation terminals surged 45 percent; amusement-related construction grew 22 percent; health care facility construction dropped 9 percent; educational buildings fell 22 percent; and public buildings plunged 46 percent.
Residential building construction grew 3 percent in February. Single-family housing increased 1 percent, and multifamily construction rose 10 percent.
Nonbuilding construction decreased 16 percent in February.
During the first two months of 2012, nonresidential building decreased 17 percent compared with the first two months of 2011. Residential building was up 20 percent, and nonbuilding construction decreased 33 percent. By geographic region, the South Atlantic grew 7 percent; Midwest decreased 2 percent; West fell 11 percent; Northeast dropped 21 percent; and South Central plunged 32 percent.
Date : 4/18/2012 12:00 AM