While the ONS reports a 0.4% increase in monthly construction output for February, Dr Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, raises concerns about the lack of growth over the past quarter, highlighting that the goal of “getting Britain building again” appears to be falling short.
Dr David Crosthwaite said: “Some good news for construction with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimating that monthly construction output increased by 0.4% in February to offset the decline of 0.3% in January. Growth was driven by increases in both new work (0.3%) and repair and maintenance (0.5%).
“At a sector level the only drivers of growth were public non-housing and public housing repair and maintenance. Most other sectors showed declining output through February.
“Of more concern is output has flatlined on a quarterly basis, with no growth evident in the three months to February. This hardly paints a picture of ‘getting Britain building again’.”
