Ken Simonson, chief economist of The Associated General Contractors of America, said construction activity through July showed widespread improvement compared to the first seven months of 2004 but the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina will have varied impacts on construction markets for the rest of 2005 and into 2006. Simonson was commenting on the Census Bureau's report that the value of construction put in place in July totaled $1.1 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, unchanged from the June total that was 9.3 percent higher than January through July 2004.
"The gains were well distributed," Simonson said. "Private residential construction climbed 12 percent year-to-date, private nonresidential was up 5.3 percent and public construction was 5.8 percent higher.