UK February construction PMI 59.1 vs 56.3 prior

• Prior 56.3

That's a solid improvement from January, with construction output seeing the fastest rise in eight months. The growth was led by a marked and accelerated rise in housing activity, though there were solid improvements in commercial and civil engineering activity as well. The only downside is that companies are still reporting widespread supply constraints and rapidly increasing input costs, though the rate of inflation for the latter did dip to an eleven-month low. Markit notes that:

"UK construction companies achieved a faster expansion in output volumes in February as the economy recovered from the recent wave of COVID-19 infections related to the Omicron variant. House building had the strongest showing, as signalled by the fastest rise in residential work for eight months.

"Despite continued volatility in price and supply conditions, the overall rate of new order growth accelerated from January to reach the fastest since last August as client confidence improved in line with economic activity as Plan B restrictions were fully lifted.

"Nonetheless, widespread reports of shortages of materials and labour continued to plague the UK construction sector, while rising input costs placed further strain on businesses. It appears that the peak of price pressures has passed as the rate of input cost inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term eased for the sixth month in a row to reach the softest since last March. At the same time, reports of supplier delays were considerably lower than those seen in the middle of last year. Yet, price and supply constraints weighed on overall business confidence, which eased to the softest in just over a year."