Brickonomics

Construction continues to shed workers at an alarming pace

A further 38,000 construction workers were made redundant in the three months to September according to the latest Government labour market figures. This raises the total of employees shed over the previous 12 months to 177,000. Meanwhile the figures also...

Posted by Brian on November 11, 2009 9:59 AM

Duff jobs figures pose a threat to construction industry

The official employment figures released today show that the construction industry has lost just 40,000 jobs. That clearly is rubbish. Were the figures accurate and were the construction output figures accurate it would suggest that as the industry has plunged...

Posted by Brian on June 17, 2009 10:18 AM

A glimpse of the future as 56% of surveyors see workload fall

Construction workload is expected to continue to collapse at a rapid pace according to the latest industry survey by the surveyors' body RICS. Surveyors experienced declines in workload across all regions and all sectors illustrating the broad spread of this...

Posted by Brian on May 27, 2009 9:18 AM

Construction job vacancies evaporate as recession bites

The latest batch of employment figures provides little comfort to the thousands of construction workers who are now looking for jobs, as vacancies in the industry have plunged deeper. The figures show that in the three months to March this...

Posted by Brian on April 22, 2009 10:04 AM

Construction gains 47,000 jobs in 2008 - it may be official but I don't believe it

Apparently there were 2,285,000 or so jobs in construction in the final quarter of last year up 47,000 on a year earlier and just 1,000 down on the quarter before, which appears to be the peak in this economic cycle....

Posted by Brian on March 18, 2009 10:01 AM

Construction job vacancies collapse

Record redundancies may be the headline in today's news bulletins and tomorrow's papers as the ranks of the unemployed creep towards 2 million. But in the detail of today's labour market figures of more concern to the thousands of redundant...

Posted by Brian on January 21, 2009 10:49 AM

Construction industry ends 2008 on a record low

Happy New Year, or is it? The first piece of hard data on performance of the construction industry we get and it is a "new" record low for the Purchasing Managers' Index compiled for the buyers' body CIPS. The overall...

Posted by Brian on January 5, 2009 10:48 AM

Construction workforce grows by 30,000 - it's official, but surely it's wrong

The official labour market figures suggest that the construction workforce is growing. Surely this can't be the case? When I eagerly opened the latest press release on Labour Market Statistics this morning, I was looking for some clues as to...

Posted by Brian on December 17, 2008 2:40 PM

Spend big, yes, but spend wisely on construction Mr Darling

Just over a week ago I had lunch with three economists, all with more than a passing interest in construction. Oddly, perhaps, for a group of economist there seemed to be a consensus, well at least on one topic. If...

Posted by Brian on October 19, 2008 8:42 PM

Nero comes to mind

On a day that Wolseley has announced 6,000 job cuts and when the employment figures are looking decidedly shaky, even without the effects of the recent cull by house builders, the latest efforts by Caroline Flint to ease pain in...

Posted by Brian on July 16, 2008 12:28 PM

If this is not recession - what is?

However much you may have been expecting it, the pace of bad news is overwhelming. Back to back, undiluted and dismal. The buyers body, CIPS, today reports on construction and unsurprisingly, given the current wave of shocking statistics, its Purchasing...

Posted by Brian on July 2, 2008 10:34 AM

Unemployment jumps but no sign yet of slump in construction jobs

Employment in the wider economy continued to grow but there was a jump of 38,000 in the number of unemployed in the three months to April, official figures show. Rising unemployment is seen as a key factor in determining the...

Posted by Brian on June 11, 2008 10:15 AM

Wave of job cuts spells more gloom for construction

The Government's confidence booster of "we'll be okay look at our strong labour market" is now starting to look rather shaky. The last pillar of hope for those keen to stop a collapse in house prices was strong employment. That...

Posted by Brian on June 4, 2008 10:45 AM

Job cuts high on the agenda as house building slides

Taylor Wimpey's move to axe a third of its offices and about 600 jobs in the UK is the clearest sign yet of the pain in the house building sector. It may not be the first cut so far announced,...

Posted by Brian on May 20, 2008 3:20 PM

As Poles depart - what then?

At last some good statistical news for the Government – unemployment down – employment up – an increase in the number of vacancies. This boost will be particularly welcomed by both the Chancellor and Prime Minister, as the employment figures...

Posted by Brian on April 16, 2008 12:35 PM

Will UK construction follow the US into recession?

The latest construction research note from the surveyors' trade body RICS takes an interesting look at the current state of the US and UK construction sectors. The underlying question RICS asks is whether the UK industry will follow the US...

Posted by Brian on April 9, 2008 4:27 PM