New construction orders show strong growth in private sector

Orders for commercial and industrial work in the private sector continue to surge ahead, according to the latest figures published by National Statistics. The strongest growth was in the private-industrial sector, which saw year-on-year orders rise by 29%. There was a 39% increase in orders compared with the previous three months and growth of 47% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The private-commercial sector also saw a substantial 10% year-on-year growth in orders. There was a 15% growth in orders compared with the previous quarter and 21% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Public-housing and housing-association orders showed underlying growth, with a 6% increase in year-on-year orders. However, orders were 21% down on the previous three months, but 36% higher than the same quarter a year earlier. National Statistics comments that all comparisons in this sector are affected by large variations due to its relatively small size.