New | Britain’s construction output falls for third month in September
Weakness in the third quarter partly due to a marked fall in construction by smaller firms in August due to bad weather and longer holidays taken
British construction output fell unexpectedly for a third consecutive month in September, in figures that confirm the sector's drag on growth in the third quarter, official data showed last week.
Construction output fell 0.2 per cent in September, after a hefty 3.4 per cent decline in August and against expectations for a 1.5 per cent rise, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.
On the year, it dropped 1.6 per cent in September, the biggest drop over two years and against forecasts for a smaller 0.3 per cent decline in a Reuters poll.
The figures confirmed an earlier ONS estimate that construction fell 2.2 per cent in the third quarter, making it the biggest drag on overall economic growth over that period.
A preliminary reading last month showed British gross domestic product slowing to 0.5 per cent from 0.7 per cent in the second quarter.
The ONS said the weakness in the third quarter construction output was partly down to a marked fall in construction by smaller firms in August due to bad weather and longer holidays taken.