Housing activity fall fails to slow building boom
29 August 2012
Activity in the UK construction sector accelerated despite the first fall in housebuilding activity for more than six years, according to the latest purchasing managers' index (PMI).
The housing activity index, which has been falling since January, dropped below the 50 figure that indicates no change on the previous month, to 49.5, in the report compiled by CIPS and NTC Research.
But the overall PMI, a composite indicator of sector conditions, rose to 54.7, from 54.2 in February, on the back of increasing activity in the commercial (56.6,...