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News Dec. 23, 2020

November construction starts decreased 2%

Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts fell 2% in November. Total construction starts in November were down 12% compared with November 2019.

“November construction starts were somewhat of a mixed bag,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “On the positive side, the gain in nonresidential building starts shows that the recovery from the early months of the pandemic remains on course. If not for the start of a very large bridge and tunnel project in October, nonbuilding starts would actually have posted a tepid gain in November. And despite the November decline in single family starts, tremendous positive momentum remains in the housing sector.

“There remains significant concern, however, about the ability of construction starts to maintain their current pace in the face of rising COVID-19 cases, the uncertain outlook for additional federal stimulus, and the lack of agreement on funding the federal government past Dec 18,” he continued. “While the near-term outlook for starts remains cloudy, the recent deployment of a vaccine in the U.S. raises hope and expectation that 2021 will be a better year.”

Nonresidential building construction increased 19% in November. Commercial construction starts climbed 27%; institutional starts grew 17%; and manufacturing starts fell 29%.

Residential building construction fell 7% in November. Single-family housing dropped 5%, and multifamily construction decreased 14%.

Nonbuilding construction fell 14% in November.

Through the first 11 months of 2020, nonresidential building was down 25% compared with the same period in 2019. Residential building rose 3%, and nonbuilding construction fell 16%.

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