After suffering a dismal decline in July, Florida experienced a welcome upturn in the pace of new construction contracts in August, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Engineering News-Record. Compared to the same period of a year ago, the state saw a 25% improvement in the volume of new contracts during the month, for an overall total of roughly $2 billion.
By percentage basis, the nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, saw the biggest gain, 58%, to tally $531.2 million for August. The residential sector contributed $886 million to the monthly total, for a 13% gain. The nonresidential sector experienced a 21% gain for a $597.8-million total.