Dive Brief:

• Overall construction starts in September were valued at a $556 billion annual pace, which was 13% higher than the August figure, according to McGraw Hill Construction data.
• Two of the factors pulling up the overall number were the start of electric power plants during the month and an increase in institutional construction.
• Residential building was off 6% from August a to $203.2 billion pace, driven by a 3% pullback in single-family building and a 14% reduction in the pace of multifamily housing.

Dive Insight:

The report for a single month shows how a starts for a few large projects or suspension of some can swing numbers up or down. Comparing year-to-date numbers (January through September) with the corresponding 2012 period is more indicative of the situation, and it shows a 2% gain in total construction starts with mixed performance in the nonresidential building and nonbuilding categories and a 26% increase in residential.