- Business activity fell for third month in January
- Pace of decline in new orders eased markedly
- Business outlook improved from four year low

The Markit construction sector purchasing managers´ index (PMI) for the month of February has come in at 48.7, unchanged from last month´s six month low.

The consensus estimate had been for a small up-tick to 49.0.

That makes for the third straight month during which the index has remained below the neutral 50.0 unchanged mark. The PMI is also still well below the the long-run series average of 54.1.

Lower construction output in January reflected falling volumes of housing and civil engineering activity, while commercial activity remained flat, after five month of contraction. There were some reports that snowfall had contributed to reduced output volumes, but the majority of respondents cited weak underlying client demand and a lack of new projects.

New business intakes dropped for an eight consecutive month, the longest continuous period since back in 2008 and 2009, although the rate of contraction did "ease markedly" when compared to December.

Average cost burdens increased again in January, but the rate of inflation was the slowest for six months and well below its long-run trend.

Meanwhile, survey respondents signalled an upturn in their confidence about the outlook for business activity over the next 12 months, with sentiment improving further from the near-four year low seen in November.

AB

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