New construction starts in March jumped 23% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $482.4 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos. The increase came as the result of a sharp gain for electric utility construction, lifted in particular by work at a nuclear power plant facility in Georgia.
Meanwhile, public works construction and housing showed modest improvement in March, but nonresidential building lost further momentum. For the first three months of 2012, the amount of total construction starts on an unadjusted basis was reported at $94.2 billion, down 3% from a year ago. For the 12 months ending March 2012 versus the 12 months ending March 2011, total construction starts were basically unchanged.