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Tag: recession

Construction firms are shedding jobs as they head for a long dark winter, says buyers’ chief

Construction firms are shedding jobs as they head for a long dark winter, says buyers’ chief

Today’s construction indicator released today by Markit/CIPS suggests construction firms performed slightly better in October than in September. The index, which is pegged against a no change mark of 50, was at recorded as 50.9 in October, up from 49.5 in September. But in reality this indicator tends for whatever reasons to run a bit hot, judging by past performance. So a score of 50.9 probably should be seen as negative rather than positive. Interestingly if we plot the Markit/CIPS…

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The real home truth is that the Government can and should do more to boost house building

The real home truth is that the Government can and should do more to boost house building

The National Housing Federation launched its 2012 Home Truths report today. It’s got lots of coverage, probably because it says again what many already know – there’s a housing crisis and it will put even more pressure on the already stressed and strained housing benefit system. We spend more than £20 billion a year on housing benefit in a bid to keep the poorest out of housing squalor. But thousands more working folk are turning to this benefit as rents…

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Some lessons to learn from the constant downward revisions to construction forecasts

Some lessons to learn from the constant downward revisions to construction forecasts

The recession in construction will be longer and deeper than we thought three months ago. That is the message in the latest set of industry forecasts emerging this month. This may evoke a sense of déjà vu. Each quarter of late the forecasts have darkened. The latest set look pretty bleak as we can see from the graph.

Construction output continues its rapid decline

Construction output continues its rapid decline

There is no getting away from the fact that the construction output data continue to look increasingly scary. If we compare month on month the 12-month total output for construction we see the industry over the past three or four months shrinking by about £1 billion a month, or put another way about 1%. The graph shows the direction of the annualised output.

ONS correction to new orders data adds more black eyeliner to a Gothic horror show

ONS correction to new orders data adds more black eyeliner to a Gothic horror show

It would be easy to attack the Office for National Statistics for miscalculating the new orders figures by £1.2 billion for the second quarter of this year. Yes it’s embarrassing for the organisation. The folk there don’t need me or anyone else to tell them that. By all accounts there was a glitch in the system which chucked out a rare error.

Time is running out for construction as private sector new orders run thin

Time is running out for construction as private sector new orders run thin

The latest new orders figures from ONS once digested will inevitably leave the construction industry feeling hungry and wondering where its next meal is coming from. Some will note the quarter-on-quarter rise of 0.2% and the 11.1% rise in the second quarter compared with the same time last year and foolishly suggest this represents improvement. They would be wrong. If you ignore the public sector data (which bounced up slightly in the quarter), the direction of orders was distinctly down quarter…

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