I have just spent a gruelling chunk of the morning trying to square the GDP figures with the construction output figures, dogged by a mild hangover and a glitch in the numbers. I hadn’t intended to dive into the figures until a bit later, but I took a “have you seen the figures?” call this morning and so was obliged to get the brain in gear a shade earlier than it felt necessary. The thing is that a huge slice…
If you didn’t know what was coming, you could read the latest set of figures for construction orders and output as very promising indeed, with contractors both winning more work and doing more work in recent months. In constant prices, output in the three months to May was as strong as in any quarter since the third quarter of 2008 – you remember the quarter in which Lehman Brothers collapsed and the world’s financial markets went into convulsions. Certainly, after…
New official figures for construction output published today show that the construction industry took a beating in the first quarter of this year. Overall in cash terms construction output was down 3.7% on the same quarter a year ago and 18% down on the first quarter in 2008. The initial launch of the new monthly-based construction output figures provides data only split by new work and repair and maintenance. But the picture they paint of the first quarter of 2010…
The latest construction index from the buyers’ body CIPS shows growth in construction in May sped up slightly. The overall activity index rose from 58.2 to 58.5. That suggests a respectable amount of growth (see graph) given that anything above 50 is growth. However while the figures are positive now there appears to be little appetite to consume hopes that growth will continue. As the chief executive officer of CIPS, David Noble, says: “Civil engineering is a clear case in…
The evidence remains strong that prices in construction remain heavily squeezed despite the easing in the recession providing scope for many service providers to push up prices in other sectors. The ONS’s experimental services producer price indices provide data on price movements across a range of businesses providing services to other businesses. The selection includes construction plant hire. The aggregate figures suggest that inflation is once again pressing on business costs, with prices for freight forwarding, motor vehicle maintenance, computer…
In the current climate it is encouraging to see construction indicators finally point to growth. And so it is good to welcome the return of the RICS construction workload index into positive territory after two years of slump. Sadly, as is the case with many construction indicators, when they are showing positive results it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are enjoying growth or that growth is coming to construction. So it is I suspect with the latest construction survey from…
How ironic that just as the construction industry is sucking in its tummy and preparing for savage cuts the latest survey by the buyers’ body CIPS shows some of the strongest growth experienced over the past decade. As can be seen from graph on the right the current level of the index suggests a growth rate that would have been well received at most times in the period from 2000 to the credit crunch. The survey suggests that activity in the…
Construction has fallen into a double-dip recession – that is if the preliminary estimates by the statisticians putting together the first quarter 2010 gross domestic product figures are to be believed. The preliminary GDP figures put growth at a pallid 0.2% for the economy as a whole. This low level of growth will be a huge worry for construction if the figure is not revised upward in later estimates. In fairness the chances of a revision upward in this data…
Evidence that construction is still far from free from the grip of recession has come from the FMB, the trade body that represents many of Britain’s local builders. The survey results show a market that remained in rapid retreat during the first quarter of this year. There is some good news as the graph (right) sourced from the FMB survey shows. The level of new inquiries appears to be levelling out and this has sparked some improvement in the level…
The Office of National Statistics has released an article that throws some light on the figures for construction jobs. I for one have been rather confounded by the construction jobs figures which seem to have understated the devastation on the ground, particularly in the wake of the collapse in house building. Indeed I have also been a bit bamboozled by the construction output figures for a similar set of reasons. While this article doesn’t put to rest all my concerns,…