Thursday, 11 June 2020

Warnings from OECD. Continuing pain for UK construction


The OECD has warned that Britain’s economy is likely to suffer more damage from the Covid-19 crisis than any other country in the developed world. GDP is forecast to slump by 11.5%, more than France, Italy, Spain and Germany. If there were to be a second peak in the pandemic, the UK economy could contract by 14%.


A survey of construction purchasing managers shows continuing pain for UK construction. After work ground to a halt in April, activity fell further in May, albeit less dramatically.

Survey respondents often commented on the cancellation of new projects and cited concerns that clients would scale back spending through the second half of 2020, especially in areas most exposed to a prolonged economic downturn


Building sites are now reopening.

Noble Francis, economist at the Construction Products Association, said that while housebuilders were keen to complete work at existing sites, they would be wary of starting new developments until they had a clearer picture of the outlook for activity, and for prices.

However, the pandemic has put £6bn of infrastructure projects on hold:


During the crisis, the UK government has supported the wages of 1,480,600 jobs in the construction sector. Millions of people are concerned about their jobs across the economy, although construction staff seemingly less so:

LinkedIn’s index gives a score ranging from -100 to 100, with the latest data showing that construction had a score of 22, down from 24 in the previous survey.
Let's hope such optimism is not misplaced, given the recent newsflow:






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