At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $490.2 billion, new construction starts in August advanced 2% relative to July, it was reported by McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. Residential building stayed on the upward track, and nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities) rebounded after its loss of momentum in July.
At the same time, nonresidential building retreated from its improved July amount, continuing the up-and-down pattern present during 2013. For the first eight months of 2013, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis came in at $329.4 billion, up 1% from the same period a year ago. If electric utilities are excluded from the year-to-date statistics, total construction starts in the first eight months of 2013 would be up 10%.