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Government survey suggests construction firms in England are doing much better, are they?

Government survey suggests construction firms in England are doing much better, are they?

The latest quarterly English Business Survey produced by the business department BIS adds further weight to the notion that the construction market is improving. The survey uses a weighed balance and showed 30% more construction firms saying workload picked up than saying workload shrank between the first and second quarters of this year. Given that about a third saw workload stand still that is an impressive majority. Other highlights include a 26% positive balance expecting to see workloads increase next…

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Architects and engineering firms have enjoyed a growth spurt since the spring

Architects and engineering firms have enjoyed a growth spurt since the spring

Architectural and engineering firms are currently going through a growth spurt according to the latest data on services turnover. The turnover and orders in production and services industry (TOPSI) data released by ONS  late last week showed that the turnover in the three months to July for architectural and engineering firms was 13.8% higher than in the same period a year earlier. This turnover is in cash terms and, because there will be cross trading, this is not a measure…

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The official construction figures add to the growing case for cautious optimism

The official construction figures add to the growing case for cautious optimism

The latest construction output figures provide yet more reasons to suspect that the industry may be pulling itself out of its slough. This evidence is reinforced by the release of the newly-constituted new orders figures. The construction output data for July show the index of construction activity has risen to its highest level since last October. This measure, which is seasonally adjusted and deflated to account for price changes, stood in July at 95.5 against 100 in 2010. This may…

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Comparing the pattern of changes in construction jobs by region

Comparing the pattern of changes in construction jobs by region

The latest jobs figures provide yet more evidence that the collapse in construction may be slowing down. The number of construction workforce jobs on the ONS seasonally adjusted figures rose slightly and was roughly the same as in the same period a year ago. These workforce jobs figures broadly support the picture painted by the employment figures released a month ago. The workforce jobs data do however provide us with a view of what is happening at a regional level….

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Finding smiley faces in the wallpaper – a look at today’s house building data

Finding smiley faces in the wallpaper – a look at today’s house building data

What can be said of the latest (second quarter) house building statistics that we don’t already really know, or suspect we know? Probably not a lot. The chances are they tell us more about the things we are likely to forget or ignore. Let’s look at the statistics for house building in England. Starts were well up, a bumper 37% (not seasonally adjusted) comparing 2013Q2 with 2012Q2. But this is comparing a relatively event-free sun-baked quarter with a rain-sodden Jubilympics…

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Construction jobs figures provide reasons for hope and signals for action on training

Construction jobs figures provide reasons for hope and signals for action on training

It’s only one quarter’s figures and we should be cautious of statistical quirks, oddities such as last year’s Jubilympics and weather effects, but there is more promise in the latest construction jobs figures than might have been expected. Certainly the generally improved mood will mean that firms are more willing to hold onto quality people than they might have been. And there is a hint of this in the figures which show a small drop in the numbers, but an…

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Has the Government found a cure for the disease afflicting the housing market?

Has the Government found a cure for the disease afflicting the housing market?

The short answer to the question in the headline is no. The slightly longer answer requires a question: It depends what you mean by the housing market? But, as that sounds like obfuscation, the most honest answer I can come up with is that while the housing market may appear to be in remission the disease is spreading. I say this because we’ve had such a welter of “good news” on the housing front recently that you’d could be forgiven…

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A good quarter in a bad half for construction

A good quarter in a bad half for construction

Construction output rose 1.4% in the second quarter of this year compared with the first, according to the latest ONS data. You might think: “Whoopee here we go!” But we’d have hoped for, if not expected, some bounce back after the first quarter of the year came in at its lowest level for a single quarter for more than a decade. If we compare the first half of this year with the final half of last the numbers suggest the…

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Is the recent surge in brick deliveries a sign of rapid growth in house building?

Is the recent surge in brick deliveries a sign of rapid growth in house building?

Today’s release of what are fairly obscure figures to most people show brick stocks plunging to the lowest level since the 1980s and a surge in deliveries comparing the latest quarter with a year ago. A rise of 16% year to year should be something to write home about, shouldn’t it? This apparent boost to production must be of interest to the armies of economists and commentators keen to spot potential effects that can be tracked back to the Help…

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Not much more sun, but fewer black clouds in latest construction industry forecasts

Not much more sun, but fewer black clouds in latest construction industry forecasts

The recent welter of more upbeat economic data has left the numbers in the latest construction industry forecasts pretty much unmoved, with the exception of private housing. The broad view is still that this year will see output fall, between 1.5% and 3.8%, with recovery taking place sometime between the end of this year and sometime next year, depending on which forecast you look at. Excluding private housing, there have been tweaks here and there as the forecasters have adjusted…

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