There was a major surge in new contracts to build non-residential buildings in the Twin Cities metro last month, according to the latest McGraw Hill Construction report, which showed that there was a planned $199,731,000 in new contracts - a 43-percent increase over last year. That includes office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, educational, healthcare, religious, government, recreational, and other buildings.

Residential construction was up as well, rising 14 percent to $324,213,000, for a cumulative increase of 23 percent.

We'll learn more about the state of the construction industy across the country when the U.S. Commerce Department releases its residential permit report on Tuesday, November 26. Because of the government shut-down, housing starts and completions data, which were also scheduled to be released tomorrow (Tuesday) won't be released until December 18.