May brings slow rise for builders
29 August 2012
Falling activity in the housing and civil engineering sectors led to the slowest growth in construction this year, according to May’s purchasing managers' index (PMI) report.
The total industry PMI - a composite indicator of overall sector conditions, in which 50 indicates no change on the previous month – was 52.6, a fall of 2.2 on April.
The housing activity index rose to 49.9, with 72.4 per cent of housebuilders reporting no change in business on April. But in civil engineering, more than a quarter – 26.7 per cent – of companies...