Output fell across all sectors, with residential property suffering the worst decline. Housebuilders blamed high borrowing costs and weak demand for a fifth consecutive decline in activity.
UK building activity has contracted at the sharpest pace since the depths of the pandemic, in a blow to the Labour government’s ambition to stimulate the economy by getting more cranes in the sky.
S&P Global’s construction PMI declined to 44.6 in February, down from 48.1 in January and below the 50 threshold indicating a contraction. The reading was significantly worse than the 49.5 expected by economists.
