Ouch, that’s a bummer. The drop in November marks the steepest downturn in UK construction
output for five-and-a-half years, with all three subsectors seeing the greatest
fall in activity since May 2020. That comes amid a sharp reduction in both new orders and employment. Meanwhile, business optimism also sank to its weakest since December 2022. S&P Global notes that:

“November data revealed a sharp retrenchment across
the UK construction sector as weak client confidence
and a shortfall of new project starts again weighed on
activity.

“Total industry activity decreased to the greatest
extent for five-and-a-half years, led by steep falls in
infrastructure and residential building work. Commercial
construction also faced severe headwinds during
November as business uncertainty in the run up to the
Budget pushed clients to defer investment decisions.

“Lower workloads, alongside pressure on margins from
rising wages and purchasing costs, continued to dampen
staff hiring in November. The latest round of job cuts was
the most marked since August 2020.”

“Construction companies also signalled a slide in
business activity expectations for the year ahead as
hopes of an imminent rebound in sales pipelines faded
in November. The degree of optimism dropped to its
lowest since December 2022 amid reports of cutbacks to
client budgets and pervasive worries about long-term UK
economic growth prospects.”