There is little doubt that construction suffered more than most industries during the downturn. Now, a new report has revealed that January 2010 saw the slowest rate of construction decline for almost two years, raising hopes for the struggling sector.
Despite the cold snap last month, which many thought would stifle growth, the CIPS/Markit construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) increased to 48.6. This is only 1.4 points below the figure that indicates positive growth (50).
Analysts say that although the industry is “not out of the woods yet”, the PMI results are a sign that construction is slowly returning to health.
While orders were down slightly last month compared with December 2008, unemployment has continued to fall – defying predictions that more jobs would be lost.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, told the Architect’s Journal that it seemed as if the pace of decline in this hard-hit sector was easing.
The overall impression is that the construction sector is stabilising after enduring a major recession, and it will be desperately hoping that the economy can generate significant recovery after crawling out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009.
