UK construction output increases in October
UK construction output rose 8.3 per cent month on month in October, raising hopes that the sector will boost GDP figures in the final quarter of the year.
According to official figures from the Office for National Statistics, output from the sector fell 5.1 per cent year on year in October – the slowest rate since February, and less than half of the 13.2 per cent plunge in September.
Over the same two months of 2010 and 2011, output fell 0.2 per cent and one per cent respectively, the ONS said.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Insight, said today: “If the construction sector can make any positive contribution to GDP in the fourth quarter, it really would seem a bonus.
“While any growth in the construction sector would probably not be enough to stop a renewed dip in GDP in the fourth quarter, it would help to limit any decline.”