Contracting for new construction edged up 1% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $408.6 billion, according to the F.W. Dodge Division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Greater contracting was reported for nonresidential building and nonbuilding construction (public works and utilities), offsetting continued slippage for housing.
In better news, nonresidential building climbed 11%. Office construction advanced 6%, while hotel construction jumped a whopping 65%. Stores and warehouses in September showed respective gains of 7% and 21%, but manufacturing plant construction fell 25% from its already lackluster August results.