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.
