"November's PMI survey suggests that construction output has yet to hit rock bottom"
- Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit
Fears that the U.K. is heading for a triple-dip recession have heightened, as nation's construction sector contracted and confidence about the next 12 months dropped to its lowest level in almost four years. The Markit/CIPS Construction Purchasing Managers' Index tumbled to 49.3 in November, down from 50.3 in October, falling below the 50 level that separates a sector that is expanding from the one that is contracting. At the same time the number of new orders fell most in just over 3-1/2 years last month, adding more pressure on employers, who are afraid of a prolonged period of depressed demand and were forced to cut jobs in November at the fastest pace for almost two years.
"November's PMI survey suggests that construction output has yet to hit rock bottom," said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit. "A protracted decline in workloads, the double-dip UK recession and shrinking investment spending has made 2012 a year to forget for the construction sector."
"Parallels to darker days of the economic crisis can be seen in the construction sector, which is under pressure from all sides," CIPS Chief Executive Officer David Noble said in the report. This confirms "the sector's return to contraction and the lowest levels of confidence seen since the height of the economic crisis in 2008."
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