Contracts for new construction rose 1% in May.

The F. W. Dodge division of McGraw-Hill Information Systems reported that contracts were valued at a record annual rate of $228 billion. Residential construction rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $103.3 billion, while non-residential building rose 2% to $83.9 billion. Public works construction declined 7% to an annual rate of $40.8 billion. The statistics gathered by Dodge are from awarded contracts. They measure the value of newly started projects that will be completed over the next several months.