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Tag: GDP

Construction’s downward revision yet to show in GDP figures

Construction’s downward revision yet to show in GDP figures

There will no doubt be eagle-eyed stat watchers checking on the latest official release for UK’s economic growth who are wondering why there has been no revision to the second quarter GDP. It still stands at 1.2%. If you remember the second quarter growth rate for construction output for Great Britain was revised substantially down from 9.6% to 6.6% and this was expected to have an impact on the UK GDP measure – knocking it from the 1.2% to 1.0%, all…

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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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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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Infrastructure is 40% bigger than we thought it was

Infrastructure is 40% bigger than we thought it was

Construction output grew in cash terms in July, despite the expectations of many analysts that the figures would start to show a dip in the month. And, by the way, the industry is actually 3.5% bigger than we thought it was a month ago, despite contractors making about £300 million less than we thought a month ago. That is one interpretation of the main points to be extracted from output figures released today. And if you think that is odd…

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Newport: We have a problem…

Newport: We have a problem…

The construction output figures continue to provide more than a feast of food for thought, not least because they suggest a rise of 8.6% in output between the first and second quarter of this year. This is a quarterly rise on a scale not seen in construction since 1963, when the industry had to pull itself out of a standstill caused by the worst blizzards for more than 200 years. Frankly for many the figure of 8.6% is in the…

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No spring bounce in work say contractors… despite official figures showing a huge jump

No spring bounce in work say contractors… despite official figures showing a huge jump

The latest combined construction trade survey compiled by the Construction Products Association has thrown up an unexpected and confusing result showing contractors working less in the second quarter of the year. This is significantly at odds with the official data suggests. The result of the contractor survey shows 20% more firms did less work than did more in the second quarter. The ONS construction figures point to a rise of more than 6% in output in that period. This begs…

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Did construction really propel the UK economy this spring?

Did construction really propel the UK economy this spring?

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…

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Construction will not come out unscathed from Osborne’s Budget, but it could’ve been worse

Construction will not come out unscathed from Osborne’s Budget, but it could’ve been worse

Given the potential for increased pain in the gift of George Osborne there will be a feeling that construction hasn’t come out as badly as it might have from the emergency Budget. But “unavoidably”, as Chancellor Osborne might say, the construction industry will have to share some of the pain for the folly of the banks as the nation seeks to balance its budget. There will however have been a great deal of relief when the Chancellor said that capital spending…

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Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for

The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side. The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right). It shows that after the biggest recorded annual fall since comparable records began in 1955 the forecasters expect a continued slide this year. There is some variation in views on this, with…

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