UK construction PMI rebounds to 52.5 in April, a big beat

The construction sector activity in the UK economy showed a solid upturn and returned to the expansion territory in the month of April, a fresh report from Markit Economics showed on Wednesday.

The final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in the UK jumped to 52.5 points in April, when compared to 47.0 booked in March and much better than a reading of 50.5 anticipated.

Key Points:

Construction activity rises at fastest pace for five months.

Residential work expands at strongest rate since May 2017.

New orders increase slightly in April.

Tim Moore, Senior Economist at IHS Markit and author of the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI®, noted: “A rebound in construction activity was pretty well inevitable after snowfall resulted in severe disruptions on site during March. House building led the way, with growth in April among the strongest seen over the past two-and-a-half years. However, the picture was less positive in other areas of construction, with commercial building and civil engineering work rising only marginally."