NEW YORK, Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dodge Momentum Index climbed 8.1% in July after retreating a revised 2.4% in June, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning. Combined, these projects have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The Momentum Index for July came in at 98.8 (2000=100), up from June's revised level of 91.4. This month's improvement in the Momentum Index is consistent with last week's employment report, which showed a stronger than expected increase of 163,000 jobs. Although further increases in the index would be needed to suggest a true rebound in construction, this month's gain could be considered a first step in that direction.
Both the commercial and institutional components of the Dodge Momentum Index rose in July. The institutional building segment of the Momentum Index advanced 9.0% in July after a sharp 11.2% decline in June. An uptick in new planning projects for education buildings (+5.8%) aided the gain in institutional building, although two new hospitals (one in Connecticut and one in California) dominated the projects entering planning. The commercial building segment of the Momentum Index climbed 7.3% in June, even stronger than last month's revised 6.7% improvement. Commercial building was helped by a small 2.5% gain in new plans for office projects. One of the projects contributing to this increase was Apple's new plan for expansion of its Austin, TX campus.
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The Dodge Momentum Index
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(Year 2000=100)
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July
2012
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June
2012
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%
Chg
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Nonresidential Building
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98.8
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91.4
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8.1%
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Commercial Building
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95.0
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88.5
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7.3%
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Institutional Building
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103.7
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95.1
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9.0%
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Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge
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(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120807/NY53640 )
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McGraw-Hill Construction's data, analytics, and media businesses—Dodge, Sweets,Architectural Record, and Engineering News-Record— create opportunities for owners, architects, engineers, contractors, building product manufacturers, and distributors to strengthen their market position, size their markets, prioritize prospects, and target and build relationships that will win more business. McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers through its trends and forecasts, industry news, and leading platform of construction data, benchmarks, and analytics, including Dodge BuildShare and Dodge SpecShare. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.
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McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2011, the Corporation has approximately 23,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.
Media Contact:
Kathy Malangone, Senior Director, Marketing Communications,
McGraw-Hill Construction, +1 212-904-4376, kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com
SOURCE McGraw-Hill Construction