Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts rose 9% in February as large manufacturing projects broke ground.
“The manufacturing sector has been an important success story for construction since the pandemic began,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Construction Network. “Domestic producers are expected to seek more control over their supply chains in the future, so that aspect of construction should continue to flourish. However, as evident in February’s data, other sectors are struggling to gain traction in the face of high material prices and worker shortages. The conflict in Ukraine will continue to put upward pressure on costs, making the sector’s recovery more tenuous in 2022.”
Nonresidential building construction jumped 32% in February, largely because manufacturing starts more than doubled as three large plants broke ground. Commercial construction fell 8%, and institutional starts dropped 22%.
Residential building construction fell 3% in February. Multifamily starts rose 2%, and single-family housing fell 4%.
Nonbuilding construction fell by less than 1% in February.
For the 12 months ending in February, nonresidential building was up 23% compared with the 12 months ending February 2021. Residential building rose 19%, and nonbuilding construction rose 1%.
