Brickonomics

Recession may cost 800,000 construction jobs - that's one in three

The latest forecast from the Construction Products Association puts the annual peak to trough fall in construction at a shade above 20%. That probably translates to a 22% to 23% fall peak to trough on a quarterly basis, which compares...

Posted by Brian on July 6, 2009 11:16 AM

Local builders set to shed more jobs as the recession deepens

The latest survey of local builders by the FMB suggests that more jobs will shed over coming months with a majority of a third of firms expecting to cut jobs over the coming six months. It has to be said...

Posted by Brian on April 21, 2009 12:41 PM

Are construction's vital job statistics wrong?

Following the release of numbers suggesting construction jobs increased by 47,000 over 2008 I asked for clarification from the statisticians. To my mind and in the view of anyone in the industry I have spoken to these figures were wildly...

Posted by Brian on March 20, 2009 10:06 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

Don't be fooled by contractors' reports of healthy profits

I am becoming a bit discomforted by persistent misplaced chirpiness. I keep reading and hearing things that tell me "it's not all bad in the construction sector". Fair enough, the construction sector is never "all bad". Come hell or high...

Posted by Brian on February 27, 2009 4:51 PM

Is this Government ignorance which I see before me?

The latest report from the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee called Housing and the Credit Crunch is well worth a read for a run through of the current travails of the industry. It seems broadly to "welcome"...

Posted by Brian on February 24, 2009 9:31 AM

More than 100,000 construction workers made redundant last year

The latest employment figures provide yet more grim reading for those in construction with the numbers made redundant in the final quarter of last year rocketing to 48,000. The official figures out today show that 109,000 construction employees were made...

Posted by Brian on February 11, 2009 9:49 AM

Trades not professionals have been hit hardest by construction job losses

I read with interest the Sunday Times story about how quantity surveyors were joining the dole queue at a faster rate than any other group in the UK economy. So I looked at the base figures and, well, came to...

Posted by Brian on February 10, 2009 1:52 PM

Is the worst of the house price crash yet to come?

New Year, new figures from Nationwide showing a new fall in house prices. No surprise there then. But the next few months may prove critical to the final shape of our current house price crash. Will we see a more...

Posted by Brian on January 29, 2009 2:06 PM

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

Most local builders are now shedding jobs as workload collapses

The latest survey of local builders by their trade body FMB paints a grim picture with workload, inquiries and employment plunging. This throws into question how focused the Government is on saving jobs in the construction industry. If saving jobs...

Posted by Brian on January 16, 2009 12:01 PM

Worst six months for construction new orders since September 1995

The latest figures for new orders appear to have taken a turn for the even worse in November after already having fallen off a cliff in May last year. The 12 month rolling total of orders won in volume terms...

Posted by Brian on January 15, 2009 11:00 AM

Forecast puts construction recession on par with 1990s - so expect 600,000 job losses

The rapid deterioration in confidence in the construction industry is amply illustrated by the latest prognostication of the Construction Products Association forecasters. The industry trade body has massively downgraded its expectations for construction output over the next six years, despite...

Posted by Brian on January 12, 2009 8:34 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

RICS pitch black news on commercial property - prices to fall more than in 1990s

If you like your news black like your coffee, then the latest survey of the commercial property forecast from the surveyors' body RICS will have you putting the kettle on if not reaching for the drinks cabinet. Expect property prices...

Posted by Brian on December 8, 2008 9:36 AM

Construction is sinking deeper into recession

The latest construction survey from the buyers' body CIPS finds the industry plunging to new depths with civils and commercial work rapidly following the path led by the house builders. The Purchasing Managers' Index for November reached a series low...

Posted by Brian on December 2, 2008 10:20 AM

Are plunging rents a prelude to a mass buy-to-let sell off?

Here are the figures that the buy-to-let critics and cynics have been waiting for. Rents are plunging. Okay, this is only one month's figures from the surveyors' body RICS, but the many buy-to-let critics will see these as heralding a...

Posted by Brian on November 18, 2008 9:29 AM

Asking prices crumble as hope of housing market recovery fades

For those who may have held lingering hopes of a lift in the housing market after the various interventions by the Government and the Bank of England of late will be disappointed by the message coming from the latest Rightmove...

Posted by Brian on November 17, 2008 10:46 AM

Construction redundancies hit 10-year high and job vacancies drop by a third

The rapidly worsening headline figures for UK jobs are worrying enough for us all. It is a sobering thought to contemplate the pain of 100,000 fewer in fulltime employment and a leap of 140,000 in the number of unemployed over...

Posted by Brian on November 13, 2008 4:03 PM