Further Construction decline
03 / Jul / 2009
The decline in activity in Britain's construction sector accelerated in June, but firms were optimistic about the future, a survey showed on Thursday. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply/Market construction PMI index fell to 44.5 in June from 45.9 in May, the 16th straight month below the 50-level that separates growth from contraction and indicating a faster pace of decline. The survey showed house building and commercial construction declines accelerated last month and nearly a third of construction firms reported job cuts. A sharper than expected fall in construction output was part of the reason for the huge downward revision to GDP in the first quarter of this year and analysts said the sector remained in poor shape. Still, the survey showed orders fell at a broadly similar pace in June as in May and firms were "extremely positive" about the outlook, reflecting greater confidence in the economic outlook.