Through July, the region had been ahead of 2015 in construction starts. Dodge reported construction activity in the metro area was at $2.3 billion through July compared with just over $1.9 billion at that time last year.

However, Leonard Toenjes, president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri, said data submitted to his organization from construction unions showed hours worked had been steadily increasing.

“Starts may be having these wild swings, but actual field work has been on this 15 percent increase year to year,” Toenjes said.

The slowdown may be just a blip, with several large projects planned to begin next year.