BRIAN GREEN ON ...OUTPUT FIGURES

摘要

Construction firms may be suffering and shedding jobs, but the bald statistics so far for this year suggest that the industry is faring better than the gloomy news might indicate. The latest construction output figures show that in pure cash terms the industry pocketed about £1.24bn more in the first five months of this year than in the same period in 2010. And 2010 proved a pretty good year in the end, with output rising by a hefty 7.7% in volume terms. But can this be sustained? The surge in work in the mid-months of last year certainly differed from the dark days of early 2009, as the industry benefited from the previous government's fiscal stimulus and a perking up in some quarters of the private sector.