Key Statistics: 24 June 2014

Construction

• PwC’s Capital project and infrastructure spending: Outlook to 2025 has forecast annual growth of 3.8% in capital project and infrastructure spending in the UK between 2013 and 2025, including spending on energy, industrial, transport and social infrastructure. However the majority of global growth is expected in emerging markets, particularly China, with Western Europe expected to account for less than 10% of global spending by 2025, down from 12% now and 20% in 2006. 

Economy

• UK factory orders rose at their fastest rate for six months in June, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) Industrial Trends Survey. A balance of +11% of respondents reported that order books were above normal, the highest figure since an eighteen year high recorded in December 2013. Reports of output over the last three months and expectations for the next three months held steady at levels significantly above their long-run averages.
• Retail sales dipped in May for the first time since January according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Sales volumes were down by 0.5% compared to April. However the wider picture remains increasingly positive; sales over the three months to April were 4.9% higher than the same period a year earlier, the strongest rise on this measure since November 2004.
• UK consumer price inflation fell to 1.5% in May according to the ONS, with food prices falling year-on-year for the first time since 2006. This was down from 1.8% in April and the lowest level since October 2009.