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Tag: construction industry

New orders data point to coming dip in construction output

New orders data point to coming dip in construction output

The official figures for orders for new construction work in the third quarter of this year were not a particular surprise, but they do reveal starkly just how fragile prospects are for the industry. The graph below shows clearly the impact of the fiscal stimulus, which reversed the tailspin in orders. But now that public spending is in retreat we are seeing orders fall away at an accelerating rate. So in time we should expect to see the same for…

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Forecasters at Leading Edge see growth after a shallow drop next year

Forecasters at Leading Edge see growth after a shallow drop next year

The latest forecast from Leading Edge may provide some comfort to those who are fretful about the prospects of ever deeper declines in the construction industry as public funds rapidly shrink. Yes, the forecast sees a drop in output next year – 0.9% after 3.2% growth this year. But the Leading Edge team are optimistic that growth in the private sector will accelerate to buoy construction overall and more than compensate for the loss work funded by the public purse….

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RICS survey points heavily to a return to recession

RICS survey points heavily to a return to recession

Today’s construction survey released by the surveyors’ body RICS adds more weight to the fears that construction is set for a plunge back into recession, showing as it does that more surveyors are seeing workload falling than rising. Asked whether workload had increased or decreased on the previous quarter, the survey found a negative balance of 10% which follows on from a negative balance of 5% in the previous survey three months earlier. This suggests that workload is falling among…

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Jobs scene a little brighter today – but what does the future hold?

Jobs scene a little brighter today – but what does the future hold?

The rate of construction redundancies in the third quarter of this year returned closer to pre-recession levels with “just” 18,000 employees recorded as being made redundant in the three months July to September. And if we didn’t know what we do know about the future we might suggest that the latest employment figures taken as a whole provide reasons to be positive. Across the economy as a whole, more people have jobs, fewer are unemployment and the claimant count is…

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Construction industry is £1 billion smaller as official growth rate is trimmed

Construction industry is £1 billion smaller as official growth rate is trimmed

Construction growth is far less than it was thought to be a month ago, according to the latest official statistics. And that means UK plc growth was probably slower that we thought too. The latest figures suggest that output growth for construction in the second quarter of this year was about 6.8% and not the 9.6% previous penned in. Meanwhile second third quarter growth came in at 4%, which was more or less in line with the estimate for UK construction…

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Mixed messages and some worries as payment delays in construction grow again

Mixed messages and some worries as payment delays in construction grow again

Experian’s latest figures on payment performance  for the third quarter of this year provide construction firms and their suppliers both reasons to be cheerful and reasons to be a tad wary. Both property and construction firms are delaying payments less than they were a year ago, but over the latest quarter, both sectors have become slower to pay up. Property firms on average are paying two days or so later than they were three months earlier and construction firms just a…

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Construction industry is forecast to face a second double-digit decline

Construction industry is forecast to face a second double-digit decline

Construction is heading for a very nasty tumble next year after the current spurt in workload fades. That at least is the assessment of the first major industry forecast released since the Chancellor’s spending review announcements. The construction forecast by Hewes & Associates suggests that after an unexpected 5.6% rise in construction over this year as a whole, the industry will slide sharply by 5.8% next year and 4.8% in 2012. It is worth noting that the forecast by Hewes…

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10 things that might be causing weirdness in the construction output figures

10 things that might be causing weirdness in the construction output figures

Can we accept unquestioned the construction figures presented by the latest preliminary estimate of UK economic growth? To do so is to accept that construction is enjoying workloads at a level that just three years ago were close to pushing the industry’s capacity to its limits. What’s more the rate of growth being enjoyed by construction – 14% or so over six months – is seen by many who follow the numbers as astonishing and for some incredible. But before launching…

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Construction growth continues to roar, but can you hear it?

Construction growth continues to roar, but can you hear it?

The UK economy grew twice as fast as the growth rate expected by experts, according to the latest preliminary estimate of gross domestic product. The GDP figure rose 0.8%, which is above trend growth and well above the 0.4% figure which was being touted as the average of the growth rates expected by experts. This suggests annual growth of 2.8%. A significant part of the recent growth spurt is down to the contribution that construction is thought to have had….

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It’s official – construction has never had it so good

It’s official – construction has never had it so good

Construction is booming and there was more construction work undertaken in Britain in the three months to August than in any quarter ever recorded – and that is after the statisticians revised down the figures for June and July by £400 million or so. No I am not dreaming. That is what the latest figures from the national statisticians at ONS suggest. According to the constant 2005 prices data in the latest figures there was £27,692 million of construction work…

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