New projects abound in office, non-building sectors.

The value of new construction starts in January, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $658.3 billion, was unchanged from December, 2005, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The pattern of activity by the major construction sectors was varied--non-residential building retreated, residential building stayed even with its December pace, and non-building construction registered moderate growth. On an unadjusted basis, total construction in January was reported at $46.0 billion, up 8% compared to the same month a year ago.

"January's activity came in slightly above the average for 2005, which was a very healthy year for the construction industry," said Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "The current year should see construction stay close to its 2005 volume, although the mix by major sector is expected to be somewhat different, as non-residential building and public works pick up the slack from a slowing housing market. January showed a few, but not all, elements of this pattern that's expected to emerge as the current year proceeds."

Non-residential building in January decreased 3% to $172.9 billion. After showing a strengthening trend during the closing months of 2005, several of the institutional structure types retreated in January, with school construction down 16% and healthcare facilities down 43% from a very strong December. Even with the decline, the healthcare facilities category in January continued to see groundbreaking take place for major hospital projects, including a $134 million project in Orlando Fla. and a $90 million project in Mesa, Ariz.

Other institutional categories with January declines were public buildings, down 15%, and amusement-related work, down 22%. As for the commercial structure types, January showed reduced contracting for warehouses, down 10%, and hotels, down 50% from an exceptionally strong December.

On the plus side, non-residential building in January featured a 105% jump for office construction. Boosting the January office total was groundbreaking for the massive Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City, at an estimated construction cost of $1.8 billion. Excluding the Goldman Sachs headquarters, office construction in January would still be able to hold steady, as January also included the start of large office projects in Houston, Texas ($90 million), Silver Spring, Md. ($55 million), and Irvine, Ca. ($50 million). Other non-residential categories posting January gains were transportation terminals, up 23%, churches, up 20%, manufacturing buildings, up 5%, and stores and shopping centers, up 1%.

Residential building in January, at $373.7 billion, was essentially the same as December. Single family housing edged up 1%, helped by warm winter weather in parts of the nation.

Multi-family housing in January slipped 5%, marking the fourth decline in a row after this category reached a peak back in September. Despite recent declines, multi-family housing continues to be supported by high-rise condominiums, as January included the start of seven such projects valued in excess of $50 million each.

Non-building construction in January grew 7% to $111.7 billion. Of the public works categories, sewer construction showed the largest gain, rising 17%.

Growth was also reported for mass transit and site work, up 13%, and water supply systems, up 12%. Rounding out the public works sector was river/harbor development, down 1%, highways, down 9%, and bridges, down 16%. The non-building total in January also received a substantial boost from electric utilities, which soared 169%. The huge jump for electric utilities reflected the start of a $900 million coal-fired power plant in Wisconsin.

The 8% gain reported for total construction on an unadjusted basis, for January 2006 relative to January 2005, was due to this pattern by major sectors--non-building construction, up 18%, residential building, up 7%, and nonresidential building, up 6%.