Reed Construction Data (RCD) announced today that the year-to-date value of construction starts through October 2008, excluding residential contracts, totaled $242.7 billion, a 2.5% drop versus the first ten months of last year. Starts in the individual month of October were down 14% from September, much more than the usual seasonal decline, but were 11% higher than year-ago October, reports Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data.