Strong rise in construction output in April

摘要

UK construction companies signalled a strong increase in output volumes during April, with continued recoveries in civil engineering activity, commercial work and house building boosted by the fastest rise in overall new orders since September 2014. The headline IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI Total Activity Index posted 61.6 in April, down only fractionally from March's six-and-a-half year peak of 61.7. Commercial work (index at 62.2) was the best-performing broad category of construction output in April, although the rate of expansion eased slightly since March: civil engineering (at 61.5] bucked the softer overall growth trend in April and signalled its fastest speed of recovery since September 2014; whilst house building (at 61.2) continued to rise at a strong pace in April, although the rate of growth eased from March's recent peak (64.0).