New orders pick up after slow start

New orders in the three months to February were worth £11.3bn in value, according to the latest data from the Department of Trade & Industry – that figure represents a 2% boost compared with both the previous three months and the three months a year ago. 

That in itself is a turnaround after the orders value for the three months to January was down 7% against the previous three months and 3% less than the three months a year ago.

The value improvement to February was backed up by the volume data: up 1% against the previous three months and down only 1% against the three months a year ago.

However, drilling down into the data shows some noteworthy results against the three months a year ago: public housing ahead 62% (54% by volume), roads more than doubling, and private warehouses and private offices improved by nearly a third.

In the year to February, new orders were £48.1bn in value, up 6% compared with the year ago period. Volume growth was 4%.

Public housing improved 48% in value and 42% in volume, but private housing could only generate a 2% jump in value and a 3% drop in volume. Infrastructure, while 13% down in value and 21% in volume, improved against the previous month (CJ 28 March).

Other public orders remained in a trough, while private industrial orders were largely static. Private commercial, as a whole, remained strong, up 20% in value and 21% in volume.