ONS report for October shows construction output stumbling

According to the latest construction output report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the construction sector in Britain experienced another downturn in the month of October with the three months up to October likewise displaying a downturn, although to a slightly lesser extent.

In the month of October itself the Construction Output Report displayed an output figure that declined by 2.3 per cent which is the largest monthly decline since January 2018 when the same figure collapse by a proportion of 2.6 per cent.

Within this decline of the overall construction sector in October the subsector of new work saw a decrease of 3.1 per cent, the subsector of private new housing saw a decrease of 4.7 per cent, infrastructure saw a decrease of 6.3 per cent, and repair and maintenance saw a decrease of 0.6 per cent. These figures were offset by increases in other subsectors such as public housing, which experienced a rise of 4.1 per cent, and private commercial works, which experienced a marginal rise of one per cent in output.

To a slightly lesser extent, the three month decline in construction output over the course of the months building up to October 2019 was likewise down to repair and maintenance, which fell by 1.4 per cent, courtesy of corresponding declines in private housing repair and maintenance, which fell by 3.6 per cent, and public housing repair and maintenance, which fell by 0.8 per cent.

In contrast, however, the three months in the build-up to October 2019 witnessed an increase in the subsector of new work, which increased by 0.3 per cent, with this stemming specifically from increases in private commercial new work, which rose by 1.6 per cent, and private industrial new work, which rose by 6.1 per cent as well.

These stumbling figures can be viewed as a consequence of the Brexit deadline that was issued in October and, since this deadline passed by without Brexit, it is entirely possible that the output figure for November could be a positive one.

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