Construction starts were up 6% in February for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $912.8B, according to data from Dodge Construction Network.
The bump was fueled by strong activity in home building and manufacturing, with single-family buildings posting its first gain in the last 13 months. Still, year-to-date activity remains 17% below the levels reported in 2022, and analysts are worried about weak performance in commercial and institutional buildings.
Residential building starts increased last month to an annual rate of $320B, with single-family starts up 4% and multifamily up 22%.
Infrastructure and other non-building starts were down 5%.
Manufacturing starts were up 218% nationwide over the month, helping to fuel an increase in nonresidential building starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $368B.
Office and parking structure starts were down 2% for the month, and nonbuilding starts dropped to a rate of $225B because of a 30% drop in environmental public works starts and a 5% decrease in highway and bridge starts.
Utility and gas plant starts increased 68%, and general public works projects were up 6%.
Analysts have expressed concerns that the downturns in commercial and institutional starts could spell the start of a slowdown due to weak economic growth and interest rate increases. (Source)