Dive Brief:
- Construction starts last month were valued at an annual rate of $549.7 billion, according to figures compiled by McGraw Hill Construction.
- Nonresidential, which slid back 4% in May, returned to grow 12% in June, thanks in part to some large manufacturing facilities that began construction.
- Robert A. Murray, the company's chief economist, said single-family home building was "the biggest surprise on the negative side, as its upward trend present for much of 2012 and 2013 has stalled for now."
Dive Insight:
Overall residential construction starts last month rose 2%, with multifamily up 22% but single-family pulling back 2% from its May pace. For the first half of the year, residential was up 4% from where it stood in 2013, much smaller than that year's 26% gain over 2012 and 2012's 31% rise over 2011.