UK Construction Sector Continues To Contract

(RTTNews) - The UK construction sector continued to experience a downturn in December amid falling workloads, survey data from S&P Global showed on Wednesday.

The construction Purchasing Managers' Index registered 40.1 in December, up from 39.4 in November. The score was expected to climb sharply to 42.4.

The score was below the neutral 50.0 value for the twelfth successive month but reached the second-lowest since May 2020.

Civil engineering was identified as the weakest-performing segment in December. Both housing activity and commercial construction decreased the most since May 2020.

"Despite a lifting of Budget-related uncertainty, delayed spending decisions were still cited as contributing to weak sales pipelines at the close of the year," S&P Global Market Intelligence Economics Director Tim Moore said.

The survey showed that job shedding moderated since November, aided by an improvement in business activity expectations to the highest since July.

There was a sharp decline in new work but the pace of contraction moderated since November.

Input price inflation eased towards the end of the year. Average cost burdens rose at the slowest rate since October 2024. Rates charged by subcontractors also increased at the weakest rate in just over a year.