Industry output falls

Author: ross sturley cimcig

Construction sector output has fallen in the last quarter, according to the latest set of ONS statistics.

Construction output fell quarter on quarter by 1.3%, after growth of 1.1% in the first 3 months of 2017. This 3 month on 3 month contraction in output has been driven by falls in both all new work, and repair and maintenance, which fell 1.3% and 1.4% respectively.

Month-on-month construction output also fell in June 2017, contracting for the third consecutive month, decreasing by 0.1% compared with the previous month; however, construction output still grew 0.9% compared with June 2016.

The month-on-month decline of 0.1% in June 2017 was driven by a 1.1% fall in all repair and maintenance; however, this was offset by a 5.1% increase in private housing, which reached its highest level on record.

The estimate for construction growth in Quarter 2 (April to June) 2017 has been revised from negative 0.9% in the preliminary estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) to negative 1.3%, which has no impact on quarterly GDP growth to 1 decimal place.