South Carolina Sees Ups, Downs in April

The state of South Carolina experienced continued growth in its nonresidential construction sector in April, but it wasn’t sufficient to keep the state’s overall total for new contracts from going negative, according to information from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The company estimated the value of new South Carolina construction contracts at $515.5 million during April, or 5% lower than the same period of a year ago.

Nonresidential contracts totaled an estimated $164.9 million in April, or 31% higher than the same period of a year ago. The nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure projects, tallied just $56.5 million for the month, however, or 44% lower than last April. The value of residential contracts was estimated at $294.1 million, or 6% below last April’s pace.

For the year-to-date, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates the value of South Carolina construction contracts at just over $2.3 billion, or 7% behind last year’s pace.

Nonresidential contracts are valued at about $920.4 million through April, or 53% ahead of the year-ago pace. The nonbuilding category is 39% behind 2010’s early pace, however, with $421.5 million in new contracts so far this year. Residential work is estimated at $995.3 million through April, or 18% lower than a year ago.

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.