South Carolina contracts recorded across-the-board increases in December for a 38% overall spike in new work, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.

The company estimated the value of new nonresidential contracts at nearly $110 million in December, or 49% better than the same period of a year ago. Residential contracts picked up the pace, too, registering a 20% monthly gain on roughly $229.5 million in new work. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, roughly tripled compared to a year ago, for a $50.8-million total.

According to McGraw-Hill’s figures, the value of South Carolina contracts ended 2011 approximately 19% ahead of 2010’s volume. The nearly $7.8 billion in new 2011 contracts compared to the 2010 total of nearly $6.6 billion. The overall annual gain was the first for South Carolina since 2007, according to the company.

Nonbuilding was the most improved category, registering a 37% yearly gain with about $2.2 billion in new contracts. Nonresidential contracts improved by 20% overall in 2011, also with a total of about $2.2 billion. Residential contracts came in at nearly $3.4 billion for the year, or 8% ahead of 2010’s pace.