Building sector ‘closer to recovery’

ALTHOUGH still below the positive 50 point mark, the latest construction sector barometer from Ulster Bank hints that the industry is moving closer to recovery – with a rise in new business orders, an easing in the pace of job cuts and a slowdown in the decline in overall activity evident.

After June’s near five point increase to 44.9, the latest construction PMI (purchasing managers’ index) from Ulster Bank – covering July – showed a further, albeit much more marginal, rise to 45 points.

While anything below the 50 point mark still, obviously, indicates a sector in reverse, July’s increase means the latest measure of contraction in the industry is the slowest in three years.