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…
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…
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…
It has long been said that construction is an important bellwether in determining the shape of the nation’s economic progress. Today the performance of construction, or rather revisions to its measured performance, seemingly determined how close the UK is to recovery. The upwardly revised construction data put the nation yet closer to its official exit from recession. Whether we are in or out of recession has huge political significance. But for me it is interesting to note just how much store is…
I am not sure about you, but I sometimes have to go to the back numbers to make sense of the statistics that get thrown at me. I have been for some months a bit curious as to why the brightest brains (well some seriously well paid experts) among the UK economists have consistently been wrong in their prediction of inflation, each time overstating the fall in the headline figure. Again this month, they expected the Consumer Price Index to…