According to McGraw-Hill Construction, starts on new construction fell 9 percent in November, coming in at a seasonally-adjusted rate of $405 billion.
Nonresidential building fell by 18 percent. Within that category, store construction fell 17 percent, while warehouse starts dropped 22 percent. However, office construction did manage to go up 3 percent.
Though nonresidential construction fell, home construction in November remained about the same when compared to October. Starts on single family homes were up 1 percent during the month. Recent numbers from the government indicate that starts on single-family homes were up 2.1 percent in November, while building permits were up 5.3 percent.
For 2009 overall, McGraw-Hill reported that construction dropped by 28 percent when compared to the first 11 months of 2008.
"During the spring, the construction start statistics made the transition from steady decline to more of an up-and-down pattern, and November's pullback following the strong gain in October is a continuation of that pattern," Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for the firm, said.
