Housebuilding buoys construction industry
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The Markit/Cips construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) out today reached 52.3 last month, up from 49.2 in August – where any reading above 50 indicates growth.
The expansion is in stark contrast to the industry’s slump in the aftermath of the Brexit vote when activity fell to 45.9 in July.
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Hide AdTim Moore, senior economist at IHS Markit, said: “UK construction companies moved back into expansion mode during September, led by a swift recovery in residential building from the three-and a-half year low recorded in June.
“Resilient housing market conditions and a renewed upturn in civil engineering activity helped to drive an overall improvement in construction output volumes for the first time since the EU referendum.”
Sector activity was buoyed over the period by a rise in new work for the first time since April, driven in part by growing demand from the housing market.
New orders also ended four months of declines to pick up in September, while housing activity growth was the strongest recorded since January.
Overall output was also bolstered by a robust performance from civil engineering activity, which grew at its fastest pace since March.
However, commercial construction activity – offices and factories – recorded its longest period of sustained decline in more than three years after falling for the fourth month in a row in September.