Construction companies indicated a marginal reduction in total business activity during June, despite a return to growth in residential building work. However, new orders decreased at an accelerated pace. This contributed to the weakest degree of business optimism across the construction sector for two-and-a-half years. At 48.8 in June, the headline S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) – a seasonally adjusted index tracking changes in total industry activity – was up from 47.9 in May and signalled the slowest decline in construction output since the current period of contraction began in ... (full story)