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Construction activity down 10% in year to July

Image by Kate Ter Haar

Output in the construction industry fell a little over 10% in the year leading up to July, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Taking the quarter up to the end of July, volume of output had fallen 10% on the same period last year, new work decreased by 14.2% and repair and maintenance fell by 1.2%.

Reduced spending in the public sector seems to have had a significant impact, with new public housing down 22.4% on last year, and other new public work down 21.5%.

The private sector, meanwhile, provided some slight areas of growth, with new industrial work and private non-housing increasing 1.5% and 0.7% respectively. Infrastructure repair and maintenance, meanwhile, also showed growth of 3.5%.

The ONS said it was noteworthy that output increased 2.2% between June and July, compared to a 2.3% fall last year. This is likely due to the two bank holidays in June as a result of the Diamond Jubilee.

It is not thought the Olympics had any significant effect on this set of data, as the games did not start until late July.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Cooper .