UK Construction Shrinks in February Weather Blamed

Output in the construction industry fell sharply in February as extreme weather halted work on building sites, official figures have shown.

Output fell by 2.8% – £270m – compared with a month earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

But in the three months to the end of February, construction output grew 0.3% compared with the previous quarter.

Despite signs of improvement, the construction industry remains 13.2% below its pre recession peak.

The ONS said the heavy rain and flooding that marked the wettest winter on record had caused delays in building work.

It added that repairs of flood damage had not yet filtered through to its data.

The fall in February’s construction output was the biggest monthly decline since November 2013 and dragged the annual growth figure lower.

The ONS said construction output increased 2.8% in the year to February, compared with a 5.7% increase in January.

Output measures the amount charged by construction companies to customers for the work they do.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza