UK construction PMI unexpectedly rises to 53.4 in November, 4-month highs

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The construction sector activity in the UK economy grew at a faster pace than expected in November, a fresh report from Markit Economics showed on Tuesday.

The final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 53.4 in November, up from 53.2 seen in October while surprising markets to the upside (52.5 expected).

Key Points:

Solid expansion of overall construction output.

Residential work reclaims its place as best performing area of construction activity.

Job creation accelerates to its fastest since December 2015.

Tim Moore, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey:

“November data indicates that the UK construction sector remains in expansion mode, with resilient business activity trends seen for housing, commercial and civil engineering activity. The latest overall rise in construction output was the fastest since July, helped by a stronger contribution to growth from house building activity.”

"Higher levels of new work were recorded for the sixth month running in November, which resulted in a robust and accelerated rise in staffing numbers. The latest upturn in employment was the fastest for almost three years. A number of construction firms noted that greater demand for staff had led to upward pressure on salaries in November.”

"Business confidence regarding the year ahead outlook for construction work picked up from October's recent low, but remained weaker than seen on average in the first half of 2018. Survey respondents widely commented that Brexit-related uncertainty had held back business optimism in November."

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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