All economy articles – Page 2
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Comment
First of autumn forecasts downgrades construction prospects
Message from first autumn forecasts to emerge is to prepare for slower recovery than expected
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RICS sees some positive signs in the private sector, but it's London and South-east driven
There are some positives in the latest survey but don’t get too excited until you read all the figures
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Half-term report for the housing market 2011 – fragile and flatlining
The recent stats to emerge on the housing market make for worrying reading
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Construction output: So far it’s better than last year, but can that last?
Output figures are looking good but why, how and is this sustainable?
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Construction output figures in the dock: the case for the defence
The ONS makes its defence but still leaves questions unanswered
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Comment
Bad, but the GDP construction estimate probably overestimates the drop
The Office of National Statistics has issued its estimate of national output figures, so what are we to make of it?
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Comment
Construction redundancies remain high while vacancies remain low
As the real business of governing the UK begins to wind up again, the latest employment figures will do little to cheer the incoming government as it prepares to put chalk marks on where deep public sector cuts will be made.The overall figures showed the rise of unemployment continuing above ...
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Comment
We're back to double-digit growth in house prices, oh dear
House prices are booming again, crack open the champagne!Well maybe not.If I was a house builder reading the latest survey from the Nationwide building society showing a double-digit rise in prices over the past year (see graph) I would be worried.Looking at my short-term prospects, naturally I would be chirpy ...
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Comment
Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for
The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side.The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right).It shows that after ...
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It’s a double-dip recession for construction, if the statisticians’ first stab at growth is right
Construction has fallen into a double-dip recession – that is if the preliminary estimates by the statisticians putting together the first quarter 2010 gross domestic product figures are to be believed.The preliminary GDP figures put growth at a pallid 0.2% for the economy as a whole. This low level of ...
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We are on a perilous road to the new normal – but at least it’s exciting
Yesterday I went to an excellent conference organised by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. I know it was good because I came away with a headache and a slightly befuddled mind, but invigorated nevertheless.What made it more interesting was that on the train into London I read Martin Wolf’s column ...
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Mum: Are we out of recession yet?
You could feel the uneasiness among economists yesterday when the release of official statistics showed that the UK had just scraped enough oomph together in the final quarter of last year to stage a lacklustre return to growth.Most economists had expected the no-growth bar to be cleared by some margin. ...
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Comment
Does the whole GDP debate really rest on dodgy construction output figures?
It has long been said that construction is an important bellwether in determining the shape of the nation’s economic progress.Today the performance of construction, or rather revisions to its measured performance, seemingly determined how close the UK is to recovery.The upwardly revised construction data put the nation yet closer to ...
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Comment
Grim outlook for jobs in UK construction
The official figures show construction lost 67,000 jobs in the third quarter of this year. This is more than 1,000 jobs each working day and half the jobs lost to the UK economy over that period.So while there may be suggestions of more stability in the wider economy, construction is ...
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Comment
Housing recovery is resting on happier family homes market
The latest swathe of housing data continues to suggest a pick up both in prices and activity and the RICS November house price survey, released today, adds further weight to the case for a housing recovery.Its measures for sales, expected sales, new inquiries, new instructions, prices and expected prices are ...
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Comment
And the slump goes on …
The UK economy shrank by another 0.8% in the second quarter, according to preliminary figures. While the drop was markedly slower than the 2.4% decline in the first quarter of this year, it was still a much sharper contraction than many analysts had hoped for. It also marked the fifth ...
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