Britain's construction industry maintained its run of strong growth for the fifth month in September, according to the CIPS/Markit survey of purchasing managers in the sector.
Markit said construction companies ended the third quarter of 2013 with "a strong expansion of overall output levels and a further improvement in their new order books".
A slight dip in growth from a soaring month of expansion in August failed to dent confidence in industry boardrooms for the year ahead.
The degree of positive sentiment was the highest since April 2010. Higher-than-expected order books also boosted employment numbers for the fourth consecutive month. Job creation reached its fastest for just under six years.
Much of the growth came from private housebuilding, which has grown strongly over the last year in response to the government's Help to Buy deposit guarantee for new homes and is now rising at its fastest rate since 2003.
The Bank of England's Funding for Lending scheme, which has cut mortgage rates, is also credited with increasing the supply of cheap credit.
The headline Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers' index (PMI) posted 58.9 in September, down from a near six-year high of 59.1 during August. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.
Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: "Construction is no longer the weakest link in the UK economy.
The third quarter of 2013 ended with output growth riding high amid greater spending on infrastructure projects and resurgent housebuilding activity.
"The reversal in fortunes has spanned commercial, residential and public sector construction projects.
Moreover, builders are confident that a tide of new tender opportunities will continue to lift the construction sector in the months ahead, supported by improved development funding conditions and better underlying economic conditions.
"September's survey suggested that constructors are beginning to react with confidence to the more positive landscape for the sector, as job creation and input buying both rose at robust rates over the month."
Howard Archer, UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the construction sector is exhibiting "marked sustainable improvement following extended, deep weakness".
He said: "Indeed, the construction sector highly likely saw even stronger expansion in the third quarter than in the second quarter when output grew 1.9% quarter-on-quarter.
The construction PMI averaged 58.3 in the third, which was up substantially from 50.4 in the second quarter and was the best quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2007.
This fuels belief that GDP growth in the third quarter could very well have accelerated to close to 1%" However, output across the construction industry remains well below its peak and analysts estimate that between 100,000 and 150,000 construction workers are either working in other sectors or out of work.
Before the recovery in output that began in May, output by the construction sector was 22% below its 2008 level and private housebuilding was 38% below the previous high. According to ONS figures output by the industry is now around 14% below its peak.
theguardian.com
Markit said construction companies ended the third quarter of 2013 with "a strong expansion of overall output levels and a further improvement in their new order books".
A slight dip in growth from a soaring month of expansion in August failed to dent confidence in industry boardrooms for the year ahead.
The degree of positive sentiment was the highest since April 2010. Higher-than-expected order books also boosted employment numbers for the fourth consecutive month. Job creation reached its fastest for just under six years.
Much of the growth came from private housebuilding, which has grown strongly over the last year in response to the government's Help to Buy deposit guarantee for new homes and is now rising at its fastest rate since 2003.
The Bank of England's Funding for Lending scheme, which has cut mortgage rates, is also credited with increasing the supply of cheap credit.
The headline Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers' index (PMI) posted 58.9 in September, down from a near six-year high of 59.1 during August. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.
Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: "Construction is no longer the weakest link in the UK economy.
The third quarter of 2013 ended with output growth riding high amid greater spending on infrastructure projects and resurgent housebuilding activity.
"The reversal in fortunes has spanned commercial, residential and public sector construction projects.
Moreover, builders are confident that a tide of new tender opportunities will continue to lift the construction sector in the months ahead, supported by improved development funding conditions and better underlying economic conditions.
"September's survey suggested that constructors are beginning to react with confidence to the more positive landscape for the sector, as job creation and input buying both rose at robust rates over the month."
Howard Archer, UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the construction sector is exhibiting "marked sustainable improvement following extended, deep weakness".
He said: "Indeed, the construction sector highly likely saw even stronger expansion in the third quarter than in the second quarter when output grew 1.9% quarter-on-quarter.
The construction PMI averaged 58.3 in the third, which was up substantially from 50.4 in the second quarter and was the best quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2007.
This fuels belief that GDP growth in the third quarter could very well have accelerated to close to 1%" However, output across the construction industry remains well below its peak and analysts estimate that between 100,000 and 150,000 construction workers are either working in other sectors or out of work.
Before the recovery in output that began in May, output by the construction sector was 22% below its 2008 level and private housebuilding was 38% below the previous high. According to ONS figures output by the industry is now around 14% below its peak.
theguardian.com
No comments:
Post a Comment