The value of construction contracts rose 3%.

The F. W. Dodge Division of the McGraw-Hill Information Systems, a major source of data on construction markets, said the value of construction contracts in August amounted to an annual rate of $237.1 billion, compared to $230 billion in July. The August showing brought the 1986 year-to-date total of construction starts to $163.5 billion, a 5% increase over the comparable 1985 period, when the total was $155.8 billion, F. W. Dodge reported.