Decrease in UK construction industry

According to the Office for National Statistics, output in the UK construction industry in 3Q15 is estimated to have decreased by 2.2% compared with 2Q15. This is unchanged from the estimate included in the preliminary estimate of gross domestic product published on 27 October. Output is estimated to have decreased by 0.1% in comparison to 3Q14.

Downward pressure on the quarter came from both all new work and repair and maintenance, which fell by 2.2% and 2.1% respectively, with all work types except infrastructure and private industrial reporting increases.

In September 2015, output in the construction industry is estimated to have decreased by 0.2% compared with August 2015, caused primarily by a fall in all new work of 2.4%. This was offset by repair and maintenance, which increased by 3.8%. Output in the construction industry decreased by 1.6% in September 2015, compared with the same month in 2014.

Owen Goodhead, managing director of specialist recruiters Randstad CPE, commented, “Construction is trailing and restraining the rest of the economy – when it should be underpinning potential growth for decades to come. Construction jobs are not in short supply, nor are the materials, or even the sites. The only shortage holding back construction in this country is a skills shortage.

“Skills matter. Our own analysis shows the UK needs an extra 27,000 bricklayers, 30,000 quantity surveyors and 61,000 project managers by the end of the decade, just to build enough homes to keep up with our rising population. Add in the huge infrastructure challenges facing the UK, and that picture becomes even sharper. Skills shortages are putting projects on hold, from the grandest pieces of infrastructure, like HS2, to the most personal of projects and ambitions. Sustainability and then real progress will depend on getting the right people in the right jobs.”

Adapted from source by Rebecca Bowden. Source: Randstad CPE

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/16112015/decrease-in-uk-construction-industry-995/