UK construction output falls at slower rate in Oct

Output in the UK construction industry fell in October, down 5.1% from the same month last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed here Friday. Compared with the previous month, construction output rose 8.3%. Construction is a component of gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of everything produced in the economy. This figure is the first contributor to the eagerly-awaited fourth quarter GDP, which will be released next month. The year-on-year construction output figure has fallen for 14 of the past 15 months, although October's fall was the smallest decline since February. Output had dropped 13.2% in September, compared with September 2011. Figures for each of the 12 previous months were revised by the ONS, although it said the revisions had had a "negligible" effect on GDP figures. The month-on-month growth mirrors the result of the Markit/CIPS Construction Purchasing Managers' Index for October, which was released last month and suggested fractional growth in the sector. At the time, Markit economist Tim Moore said: "The bigger picture remains bleak." The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that the UK economy will contract slightly in the whole of 2012, which would mean a negative reading for GDP for the last three months of the year. The construction sector reading has a relatively small weighting in the GDP figures. It is outweighed by the service sector, the October figures for which are due to be released on 21 December.