At a seasonally adjusted rate of $435.4 billion, new construction starts in February dropped 7% from the previous month, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's latest Dodge starts data. "Diminished activity in January and February indicates that [recent] upward trends remain hesitant," says Robert Murray, MHC's chief economist. On a year-to-date basis, total new starts for the first two months of the year was $62.5 billion, up 5% from the same period a year ago.