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News Oct. 20, 2021

September construction starts rose 10% amid material and labor shortages

Dodge Data & Analytics, New York, has reported construction starts rose 10% in September as contractors continue to struggle with high materials prices, supply chain issues and labor shortages.

“Construction starts have struggled over the last three months as concerns over rising prices, shortages of materials, and scarce labor led to declines in activity,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “The increase in September, however, partially allays the fear that construction is headed for a free-fall and shows that owners and developers are still ready to move ahead with projects. Starts are likely to continue to trend in a positive but sawtooth fashion in the coming months until a more balanced recovery takes hold next year.”

Nonresidential building construction rose 15% in September. Commercial construction starts increased 13%, institutional starts rose 13%, and manufacturing starts jumped 47%.

Residential building construction rose 9% in September. Single-family housing climbed 9%, and multifamily construction increased 24%.

Nonbuilding construction rose 6% in September.

For the 12 months ending September, nonresidential building was down 1% compared with the 12 months ending September 2020. Residential building rose 22%, and nonbuilding construction fell 1%.

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