Construction output dips amid economic slowdown fears

Abstract

Main sectors dragging down overall growth were private housing repair and maintenance, and private commercial new work, which dropped by 6.5% and 3.8% respectively. This hints at falling confidence about spending among home owners at large and commercial property developers. ONS economists blamed drop in RMI work on previous March high in aftermath of storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin in February. At the same time spending on infrastructure, private industrial and private housing new work continued to grow, holding up new work. On a quarterly basis, the picture was still positive. The pipeline of new work continues to grow.