UK construction PMI sees modest rise in Feb, beats estimates

The construction sector activity in the UK economy increased its pace of expansion and unexpectedly rose in the month of February, despite cost pressures hovering at an eight-month high, a fresh report from Markit Economics showed on Thursday.

The final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in the UK unexpectedly rose to 52.5 points in Feb, after having booked 52.2 points in Jan. Markets had predicted the figures to show no growth in the last month.

Key Points:

Solid upturn in civil engineering activity underpins growth in February

House building activity expands at slowest pace for six months

Input price inflation little-changed from January’s peak

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at IHS Markit and author of the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI®, noted, “February’s survey data highlights that the UK construction sector has rebounded from its post referendum soft patch but remains on a relatively slow growth trajectory. Weaker momentum in the house building sector was a key factor weighing on construction growth, alongside a renewed fall in work commercial projects.”