Nonresidential building dropped 5 percent in February

At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $404.9 billion, new construction starts in February fell 4 percentfrom the previous month, it was reported by McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.Nonresidential building lost momentum for the second month in a row, and the public works sector retreated after its elevated pace in January.Meanwhile, residential building in February was able to register modest growth. For the first two months of 2011, total construction on an unadjusted basis was $55.9 billion, down 9 percentfrom a year ago.

Nonresidential building in February dropped 5% to $132.3 billion (annual rate), retreating for the second straight month after December’s heightened activity.Nonbuilding construction, at $151.5 billion (annual rate), slipped 9 percentin February, according to a March 16 McGraw-Hill Construction report.

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