Hiring Pace Increases Due to Surge in House-building

Latest industry data has shown that a surge in home-building has helped British construction activity to grow at its fastest annual pace in four months, bucking expectations for a slowdown.

Home-building was the fastest-growing sector, with the biggest pick-up in activity since January as rapidly rising house prices, low interest rates and strong demand encouraged developers to press ahead with projects.

As a result we have seen the fastest pace in hiring in the sector since 1997, a fact highlighted at Kalcrest.

Director of Kalcrest, Joanne Hurley, said: “During the last four months Kalcrest have seen a continuous increase in the volume of orders for temporary skilled construction workers across the UK and whilst this is not solely related to house building, it certainly is a factor. We are excited about the upturn in the housing market – its great news for our workers, our clients and of course, for us!”

The monthly Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the construction sector rose to 62.6 in June from 60.0 in May, its highest level since February and well above the forecast for a fall to 59.5. Readings above 50 represent year-on-year growth in activity, and those below 50 point to contraction.

"(This) represents a remarkable yardstick of progress as the sector looks to recover the ground lost over the past seven years," said survey author Tim Moore.

Moore added that the construction PMI data over the second quarter pointed to the sector growing by more than 1 percent over the three-month period.

Official data released last week showed that Britain's construction output rose by 1.5 percent in the first three months of 2014 and was 6.7 percent higher than a year earlier - the biggest annual rise in three years. The PMI figures pointed to ongoing momentum in the sector, with new orders coming in at the fastest rate since January.

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