After showing improvement during the spring, the pace of construction starts has retreated over the past three months, declining another 10% in July, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. Through the first seven months of the year, starts totaled $262.9 billion, a 4% gain over the same period of a year ago. "Construction is still struggling to gain upward traction," says MHC's chief economist, Robert Murray. "Public works and institutional buildings are being adversely affected by the tough fiscal climate, while a faint upturn in commercial buildings becomes more tenuous," he says.