Building growth at six-month high

Positive sentiment amongst construction firms has reached “very elevated levels” after a month which saw the sharpest increase in business activity for six months.

The latest edition of Ulster Bank’s construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI), formally published this morning, shows a reading of 63.3 points for May; up from 57.2 for April. The index, which is generally viewed as being the leading barometer of health for the building sector here, has now been in growth mode for 21 months and May’s reading represented the sharpest monthly increase since last November. Any reading above the neutral 50-point mark indicates a sector in growth mode.

“The detail behind the headline paints a similarly optimistic picture. For the second successive month, a marked acceleration in activity was recorded in two out of the three major sub-sectors; namely housing and commercial, whild civil engineering activity also edged higher, albeit at a much less rapid pace,” said Simon Barry, Ulster Bank’s chief economist for the Republic.