Booming Britain surges ahead of sluggish Europe

Manufacturing and construction growth is helping Britain pull ahead of the Eurozone economies, influential survey data showed yesterday.

 

 

The UK would even be growing faster than the US in the second quarter, economists said, if America was not bouncing back from a harsh winter at the start of the year.

 

Construction output expanded at its fastest pace in four months in June, according to Markit.

 

Its production managers’ index (PMI) hit 62.6 last month ­– any score of above 50 indicates growth.

 

Markit’s economists believe this strong result indicates construction output will grow by around one per cent in the second quarter, contributing to overall economic growth of 0.8 per cent.

 

 

 

And the resurgent sector is hiring more staff ­– vacancies in construction climbed 36 per cent in the last year to 18,000 according to research from accounting services firm NoPalaver.

 

The job creation index in Markit’s PMI also hit its highest level since the survey began 17 years ago.

 

Sterling climbed again on the sustained good news – the pound ended the day up 0.23 per cent at €1.26.

 

Britain’s growth of 0.8 per cent should outstrip Germany’s 0.7 per cent and the wider Eurozone’s 0.4 per cent, according to Markit estimates.

 

And France’s economy is contracting, falling 0.1 per cent in the second quarter.

 

However the US will expand more quickly, growing by one per cent as it recovers from the shock 0.1 per cent drop in the first quarter.