Key Statistics: 14th February 2012

Glenigan's weekly roundup of keys statistics for the UK construction industry and the wider economy.

Construction

• The total volume of construction output in the fourth quarter of 2011 fell by 0.5% compared with the third quarter of 2011. The ONS reported that the total volume of construction output in the fourth quarter of 2011 grew by 0.9% compared with the same quarter in 2010.
• The Glenigan Index for January showed a 6% annual increase in the underlying value of project starts.

UK Economy

• Moody’s rating agency put the UK economy on "negative outlook", implying a 30% chance of losing its AAA credit rating within eighteen months.
• Consumer Price Inflation fell to 3.6% in January, down from 4.2% in December according to the ONS.
• There were 18,700 home loans for first-time buyers in December, which was a 7% rise from November and 14% up on December 2010, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The number of mortgages for all home buyers fell 6% in 2011 to 509,500.
• Figures from the Bank of England under the Project Merlin deal showed that total net lending from the five main UK banks' fell by 3% in the final quarter of 2011.
• According to the ONS, in the year to January 2012 the output price index for home sales of manufactured products rose 4.1%. This is the lowest annual rate since November 2010, when the index also rose 4.1%.
• In the three months to December 2011, seasonally adjusted estimates of international visits to the UK remained broadly unchanged versus the previous three months. However, non-seasonally adjusted visits to the UK have risen by 3% in the past twelve months and earnings have grown by 5%.