The Dodge Momentum Index, a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, fell 1.0% in May to 141.0 from the April reading of 142.4. The index, issued by Dodge Data & Analytics, a leading provider of analytics and software-based workflow integration solutions for the North American construction industry, has been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.

This recent decline came in spite of the institutional sector posting an 8.1% gain, which couldn't be offset by 6.9% decrease in the commercial sector.
On a year-over-year basis, the most recent score was 9.2% lower than a year ago: again influenced heavily by the commercial component with a 16.0% drop. In that same time period, the institutional component posted a 1.8% gain.

The statement released by the analytics organization read, "Although the trend for the overall Momentum Index is downward, so far the pullback has been measured, suggesting that there remains enough nonresidential building projects in the pipeline to support near term stability for construction activity. This is particularly true for the institutional side of nonresidential building."