Construction output fell 3.9% between April and June from the previous quarter,

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Output from the sector fell by 3.9% between April and June from the previous quarter, compared with an earlier forecast of a 5.2% drop, the Office for National Statistics said.

Compared with a year earlier, output fell by 9.5%.

Is this good news, well sort of, we are slowly getting better but for from growth perspective is frankly rubbish.

Under investment and government cuts plus tight lending criteria from the banks have hit the construction industry hard.

Mark Farrar, chief executive of the Sector Skills Council said the new figures “show a continuing trend for the construction industry – times are tough and there is no sign of a change in fortunes”.

He said the data was particularly disappointing because of a slump in repair and maintenance work.

“With 26 million energy-inefficient homes in the UK, the retro-fitting of green technology to improve environmental performance is a huge opportunity to provide an immediate financial injection to the industry – but this opportunity remains untapped,” he said, as he called on the government for more investment in the sector.

However, others saw glimmers of hope.

“The good news is that construction output fell less in the second quarter than had been estimated, which boosts the prospects of a significant upward revision to the second-quarter GDP data,” said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight