Demand for plumbing fixtures and fittings in the United States will rise 7.1% per year to $10.9 billion in 2015, according to a new study by The Freedonia Group.

The pickup for total construction in August was the result of greater activity for each of construction’s three main sectors - nonresidential building [7 percent], residential building [4 percent] and nonbuilding construction [13 percent]. For the first eight months of 2011, total construction on an unadjusted basis was down 6 percent from the same period a year ago.

"Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts indicated that economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some districts noted mixed or weakening activity," the Fed reported.

Nationwide housing starts edged down 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000 units in July, while the June BuildFax Remodeling Index reported its highest remodeling numbers in 20 months.

“While the RMI indicates that the home remodeling market softened somewhat in the second quarter, this is still the second highest RMI we’ve been able to report since the third quarter of 2007,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

Construction spending totaled $772 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in June, up 0.2 percent from the rate in May but down 4.7 percent from June 2010, the Census Bureau reported Aug. 1.

BuildFax reported a record high for remodeling activity in May 2011.

Construction spending in May totaled $753 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the sixth consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest figure since 1999, the Census Bureau reported July 1.

According to HARDI’s latest May TRENDS survey, HVAC/R distributor sales are up 6.4% in North America from the same time last year and rebounding from a flat April.

IHS Global Insight has reported that May housing starts rose 3.5% to a 560,000 annual rate.