New construction starts in October dropped 9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $742.9 billion, pulling back after a 14 percent jump in September, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
Over the past two months the pattern for total construction starts was shaped by nonresidential building, which fell 30 percent in October after soaring 37 percent in September. Although nonresidential building in October did include the start of several very large projects, led by the $1.1 billion new ballpark for the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, they were not the same magnitude as the three exceptionally large projects entered as September starts – a $6.0 billion ethane cracker plant in Pennsylvania, the $4.0 billion Delta Airlines terminal facility at LaGuardia Airport and the $1.7 billion 50 Hudson Yards office tower, both in New York.