May MHC starts rise; ABI falls; state construction employment splits; wages cool more

New construction starts in May climbed 3 percentfrom the previous month, McGraw-Hill Construction reported on Tuesday [June 22], based on data it collected. “Nonresidential building showed improvement after weak activity in April, and residential building edged upward. However, nonbuilding construction retreated in May, following April’s elevatedamount of new public works and electric utility projects. For the first five months of 2010, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis [was] down 2 percent from the same period a year ago. ... 'The recent pattern of construction starts indicates that activity has stabilized at a low level, with ups-and-downs on a monthly basis, but the transition to sustained expansionhas yet to occur,'stated Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for [MHC]," according to a June 25 Data DIGest report.

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