(Kitco News) - The European construction PMI report this morning is showing there is some doom and gloom in the Euro Area. The report said that construction activity have fallen at the fastest pace since 2021. In addition to this, there has been the fastest fall in new work since 2020. The three largest euro economies all posted steeper contractions with Italy (41.2) seeing the fastest overall decline, followed by Germany (42.6) and France (48.2) respectively.
Commenting on the latest results, Trevor Balchin, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said "Construction companies in the eurozone endured a deepening downturn in August, with seasonally adjusted activity dropping the most than in any month since January 2021. Whereas the previous period of decline reflected COVID-19 restrictions, the latest downturn is being driven by a darkening economic outlook amid high inflation and uncertainty caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine
In the U.K. construction companies suffered a second straight month of contraction in the face of deep uncertainty about the outlook for the inflation-hit economy. On the plus side, price pressure has eased somewhat and house-building activity increased for the first time in three months.
Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said "Not only did construction activity fall for the second month running, but a range of indicators from the survey pointed to further weakness ahead,"
UK S&P Global/CIPS Construction PMI Aug: 49.2 (est 48.1; prev 48.9)
Eurozone S&P Global Construction PMI Aug: 44.2 (prev 45.7)
