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British construction PMI gains weaker start in January

Xinhua, February 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The British Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered 55.0 in January 2016, down from 57.8 in December 2015, the financial information services company Markit revealed on Tuesday.

According to the data supplier, the January data signaled the weakest expansion of British construction output in nine months.

By sub-category, commercial work remained the best performing category in January, but the latest upturn was still the slowest since June 2015. At the same time, house building activity expanded at the second-weakest pace in just over two-and-a-half years. Civil engineering was again the weakest performing area of activity overall, despite rebounding slightly from December's eight-month low.

"UK construction firms struggled for momentum at the start of this year, with heightened economic uncertainty acting as a brake on new orders and contributing to one of the weakest rises in output levels since the summer of 2013. Softer growth of house building activity and a more subdued increase in commercial construction were the main factors behind the slowdown," Markit senior economist Tim Moore commented.

"Business confidence appears to have subsided across the construction sector, following the multi-year highs seen in 2015. The latest survey indicated that construction companies are less upbeat about their prospects for growth than at any time since December 2014," he added. Endit