Growth across Britain's construction industry picked up slightly in February, driven by the civil engineering sector, though a slowdown in new orders and soaring costs added to mixed signals for the economy.
The Markit/CIPS Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged up to 52.5 from 52.2 in January.
Tim Moore, Senior Economist at IHS Markit and author of the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI, said: "February’s survey data highlights that the UK construction sector has rebounded from its post-referendum soft patch but remains on a relatively slow growth trajectory.
"Weaker momentum in the housebuilding sector was a key factor weighing on construction growth, alongside a renewed fall in work commercial projects.
"In some cases, construction companies reported that sharply rising input prices had a disruptive impact on contract negotiations.
“February data revealed that input cost inflation remained at levels last seen in the summer of 2008. Suppliers’ efforts to pass on rising energy costs and
global commodity prices have been amplified by the weak sterling exchange rate.”
Growth in housebuilding cooled to a six-month low and commercial construction contracted for the first time in four months, but this was outweighed by an improvement for civil engineering firms.
The PMI showed new orders increased at the slowest pace since October and construction companies found scant respite from spiralling price pressures, which increased last month at a pace just shy of January's 8-1/2-year record.
Optimism among construction companies declined a little after hitting a 13-month peak in January.
