Builders were snowed under in January as the sector’s recent revival threatens to be shortlived, official figures showed today.
The construction industry managed growth of 0.9% in the final three months of 2012, breaking a year-long run of decline. But January’s figures — likely to have been impacted by heavy snow across much of the UK — revealed a 6.3% slide in output, putting the industry in danger of a plunge back into the red.
Construction accounts for just under 7% of overall UK output, but it is particularly vulnerable to a stuttering economy and is still nearly 17% below its pre-recession peak. Experts warned that the latest decline — driven by a 7.9% fall in new work during January — shortened the odds of an unprecedented triple-dip recession after the wider economy shrank 0.3% at the end of last year.
More timely industry surveys have also pointed to continued weakness in February, after the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said the industry shrank at its fastest pace for three years last month.
Scotia Bank’s Alan Clarke said a triple dip was “increasingly likely”. He added: “Compared with Q4, the sector will subtract half a percentage point from quarter-on-quarter growth and other sectors are unlikely to take up the slack.”
