Slump in construction to continue

THE four-year slump in the Irish construction sector is set to continue with all three areas of activity — civil engineering, commercial and residential — continuing to decline, according to the Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index.

The index, a seasonally adjusted index designed to track changes in total construction activity, found that all three monitored sub-sectors recorded declines in activity, led again by civil engineering where the rate of contraction was substantial. The index posted 42.1 in July, up from 40.5 in June. Any figure below 50 indicates a decline in activity. Falling construction activity has been recorded in each of the past 50 months.

“The only sector to record a sharper decline than in the previous month, however, was commercial, while activity on residential projects fell at the weakest pace since March,” the report states.