Construction sneezes - does the economy get a cold?
I'm a lawyer, not an economist (and so part of the burgeoning service sector growth!), but I cannot help but be worried by the continued decline in construction output, evidenced by the ONS figures and the Bank of England's Agents' summary. Sure. there are factors which influence it, such as bad weather or a shortage of bricks or skilled labour, but this is a prolonged decline, and has an impact not only now, but also in the future when the new and up-to-spec buildings are not there, leading to price bubbles. Property is a notoriously fickle market, prone to boom and bust. How are these figures going to play into that?
Gross domestic product grew by 0.5% between July and September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, down from 0.7% in the second quarter.The rate was also lower than the 0.6% growth predicted by many analysts.Part of the slowdown was due to the biggest fall in construction output in three years, a drop of 2.2%.The service sector, the biggest part of the economy, grew by 0.7%.”
