NEW YORK, March 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dodge Momentum Index slipped 2.6% in February compared to the previous month, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. February's decline brought the Momentum Index to 116.5 (2000=100), down from January's revised 119.7 but still nearly 20% above the year-earlier (February 2012) reading of 97.4. The latest month's retreat is expected to be a brief pause in a broader upward trend. Weak employment growth in December and January raised concern that the U.S. economic expansion was losing momentum, dampening the planning environment for commercial and institutional buildings. The moderate improvement in the February jobs report should help alleviate some of that concern going forward.
The February Momentum Index saw contraction in both its main components. New plans for commercial buildings, usually the more cyclically sensitive sector, dropped 1.7% while institutional building fell back by 3.7%. On the commercial side, declines were reported across all of the major building types. Even so, there were a number of new commercial projects that continued to make their way into the planning pipeline. February's projects included the $160 million Three Alliance Office Building in Atlanta GA, a $130 million expansion to the Burns & McDonnell Headquarters in Kansas City MO, and an $80 million distribution center for ConAgra Foods in Frankfurt IN. The institutional component, meanwhile, was weighed down by a large downturn in education building plans. The education decline, however, was partially offset by an increase for new healthcare projects, including the $50 million Presbyterian Rust Cancer Center in Rio Rancho NM and the $50 million Jewish Home of Rochester in Rochester NY.
About McGraw Hill Construction: McGraw Hill Construction provides essential data, news, insights, and intelligence to better inform construction professionals' decisions and strengthen their market position. 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 MarketShare™, Dodge BuildShare®, and Dodge SpecShare®. Construction data is available for North American and global markets. To learn more, visit www.construction.com.
About McGraw Hill Financial:
McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power, and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 27 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.
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SOURCE McGraw Hill Construction
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