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Six graphs showing the pain suffered by construction firms from 2008 to 2012

Six graphs showing the pain suffered by construction firms from 2008 to 2012

Recessions are gruesome and unfair things. They do not strike evenly and that is plain to see in this selection of graphs drawn from data  the provisional results of the Annual Business Survey 2012, released today. Readers should use caution and note that these are figures taken from businesses. They do not necessarily reflect the actual performance of the industries as a whole, as for instance the turnover data are not consolidated. So it will reflect, for instance, intertrading among firms…

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Construction employees feel hardest hit by recession, major study finds

Construction employees feel hardest hit by recession, major study finds

Construction workplaces suffered worse effects from the recession than any other major sector when looked at through the eyes of employees. That at least is the one of the first findings from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study, which is the sixth in a series of major workplace surveys dating back to 1980. The survey found that 72% of those employed in construction thought the recession had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of an adverse impact on their workplace….

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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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Jobs and pay data do little to perk up waning hopes for growth

Jobs and pay data do little to perk up waning hopes for growth

The latest jobs and pay data released by the Office for National Statistics today provide little by way of comfort about the economy or, more specifically, for those in the construction industry. There was an improvement in the numbers employed with 50,000 more in employment over the past three months to May and 26,000 fewer were counted as unemployed. But we have seen a continued rise in the claimant count. And annual pay rose at an annual rate of just 2.3%,…

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Latest jobs figures look pretty upbeat – but…

Latest jobs figures look pretty upbeat – but…

A first reading of the latest set of jobs figures provides some encouragement both for the nation at large and for those engaged in construction. Nationally unemployment was down and employment was up, with the rate of those aged 16 or older rising to 70.7% from 70.5% in the three months to March. Encouragingly the improvement came from more full-time employed jobs, rather than from self-employment or part-time work.

Technical glitch delays publication of construction jobs figures, so in the meantime…

Technical glitch delays publication of construction jobs figures, so in the meantime…

I had hoped to bring you news and a view on the latest jobs figures for construction, but a technical glitch (no more detail available from the press officer I quizzed) meant we will have to wait a further month before the data on construction jobs to March are released. So as I had set aside some time to discuss the latest employment figures, what do we think of the broad numbers? I was a bit disappointed to see the…

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Fewer redundancy in construction, but the future remains bleak on jobs

Fewer redundancy in construction, but the future remains bleak on jobs

For the optimists in the construction industry there is much hope to be gleaned from the latest employment figures. Equally for the pessimists there is plenty within the numbers to fret about. So what should we make of the latest batch of labour market numbers that, among other things, show that 163,000 redundacies were recorded in construction in 2009? 

Grim outlook for jobs in UK construction

Grim outlook for jobs in UK construction

The official figures show construction lost 67,000 jobs in the third quarter of this year. This is more than 1,000 jobs each working day and half the jobs lost to the UK economy over that period. So while there may be suggestions of more stability in the wider economy, construction is clearly still mired in a growing recession.