Glenigan Index turns up after six months of falls
A surge in public-sector spending on health and education in the three months to February 2012 saw an end to six consecutive months of decline in the Glenigan Index of project starts. Health starts increased by 21% and education by 7%, pushing the level of new starts above that seen in the preceding month. Even so, the Glenigan Index was 15% compared to a year ago.
Private-sector falls drove the slide in the index compared with a year earlier.
Andrew Whiffin, Glenigan economist, comments, ‘The poor start to the year continued in February, and in stark contrast to what we saw in 2012, it is the private sector that leads the fall. Starts were weak across the board, but the industrial sector exerted the largest downward pressure on the index, with starts 56% down on a year ago.
‘The health and education sectors helped cushion some of the fall in activity. Education saw a number of new projects get underway this month, with work focused on refurbishment and extension of school properties.
‘The health sector saw the largest gain in project starts this month, and, similar to what is happening in the education sector, the source of this work was concentrated on refurbishment, extension and improvement.’
