Dive Brief:

• The latest figures from McGraw Hill Construction put July up 6% from June, with annualized construction starts of all kinds coming in at $588.8 billion.
• Manufacturing facilities that were started last month— combined with non-building projects— pulled things up to that level.
• Residential remained pretty much flat, with single-family slipping a bit, and multifamily going up.

Dive Insight:

The overall result of starts in July pushed the Dodge Index up seven points from June to 125, which is as high as it's been this year. This year, total construction starts are up 4% from this time last year.