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Tag: construction output

The positive possibilities emerging from some very negative probabilities for construction

The positive possibilities emerging from some very negative probabilities for construction

There’s very often a paradoxical upside to bad news, as I’m sure the Taoists among us will readily accept. It will be disturbing news if the next set of stats show that measured construction output collapsed in the first of this year. But, weird as it may seem, that might just provide a fillip for real action to support an industry that gets more political attention than it does sensible assistance. Let’s start the story from the growing media attention…

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Construction seems to be back in recession and this time its the big firms in the firing line

Construction seems to be back in recession and this time its the big firms in the firing line

I will be shocked if construction is not in a technical recession when the first quarter figures are published in a month’s time. That is providing the official construction output data for Great Britain released today is not fantastically revised. What is more we should expect to see bigger contractors squealing the most, as it is the markets they dominate that seem to be under most pressure. I have done a few back-of-an-envelope calculations and (unless I am very much out of…

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The latest construction forecasts may be more optimistic, but the risks haven’t gone away

The latest construction forecasts may be more optimistic, but the risks haven’t gone away

For those who like their news good, the story in the latest construction industry forecasts is that the mood is less pessimistic than it was three months ago. The two forecasts out so far in this spring round – Experian and Hewes & Associates – both tweaked their figures upwards for output over the next three years. Looking at this year, Experian revised its forecast from -5.6% to -4.4%, while Hewes saw a case to reduce the fall from -6.5%…

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Construction employment holds up in 2011 – but fears remain over job prospects

Construction employment holds up in 2011 – but fears remain over job prospects

The latest national jobs figures may well provide some comfort for those in construction as they show that the level of employment held up last year. The number of jobs stood at 2,052,000 on the workforce jobs by industry count. And employment on the Labour Force Survey count stood at 2,165,000. Given the margins of error in the surveys the broad picture, as we see from graph 1, is of a flat jobs market in construction for the best part of…

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Latest construction output figures support recession fears

Latest construction output figures support recession fears

The latest construction output figures add further weight to fears that the industry is heading into recession. At first glance the figures may seem reasonably positive. The volume of work carried out in the three months to January was a shade (0.7%) up on last year. This seems to suggest that construction is holding its own in tough circumstances. Looked at on an annualised basis construction has been broadly flat since May last year, as we can see from the…

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A tale of two indicators – what to make of the latest construction PMI and orders figures

A tale of two indicators – what to make of the latest construction PMI and orders figures

When construction indicators point in different directions what are we to make of it? The February Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index released today is very bullish, suggesting the best growth for 14 months and the best month for new business for 21 months. Meanwhile, the official ONS construction new orders figures for the final quarter of last year were very downbeat. They showed a gloomier picture, with orders down on the previous quarter by 2.5%, down 15.4% on a year earlier….

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Plant hire activity rises again in 2011 Q4

Plant hire activity rises again in 2011 Q4

Thanks to swift and generous efforts made by the Office for National Statistics I can give you the latest official update of activity in the rental and leasing world. The latest data – a non-published sub-set of the Index of Services released this morning – shows a continued rise in the amount of work done by plant hire firms in the final quarter. I have also updated the construction output figures to the latest index provided in the GDP series….

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Plant hire firms continue to rebuild prices

Plant hire firms continue to rebuild prices

Plant hire firms continued on their journey of rebuilding prices throughout last year with the latest figures from the services producer prices series showing another upward tick. Prices in the final quarter of 2011 were up about 3% on a year ago. Against consumer price inflation, currently running at 3.6%, and in the face of upward pressure on costs, this hardly suggests times have got easy for the sector. But with activity recently on the up, see graph, and with firms…

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Things seem to be getting worse slower for architects and engineers

Things seem to be getting worse slower for architects and engineers

Encouraging perhaps, the latest statistics on the prospects and performance for architects and engineers seem to be of the “not so negative” variety. The December data from the Office for National Statistics’ Turnover and Orders in Production and Services Industries show what could be regarded as real growth for architectural and engineering services in 2011. Last year the sector delivered in cash terms £43.3 billion of turnover compared with £41.4 billion in 2010. This was a rise of about 4.5% and…

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