New construction rose 3% in May, to an annual, seasonally adjusted rate of $729.7 billion, thanks to a burst of electric power and natural gas projects that broke ground during the month, Dodge Data & Analytics says.
Dodge D&A's latest monthly report on construction starts, released on June 19, also showed new construction for the first five months of 2015 soared 25% from the year-earlier period, to $272.5 billion, not adjusted for seasonal variations.