A drop in house building weighed on growth across Britain’s construction sector last month.
S&P Global’s construction purchasing managers index (PMI) fell from 57.2 to 54.3 in October, indicating the index remained in growth territory for an eighth consecutive month.
The civil engineering and commercial sub-sectors helped buoy the reading, as each continued to expand.
However, the house building segment fell into contraction territory for the first time since June over the month.
“Government policy uncertainty, fragile consumer confidence and elevated borrowing costs were all constraints on demand for house building projects,” S&P economics director Tim Moore said.
Overall build cost inflation was also said to have been stronger than the average seen over the first half of the year, while construction business confidence hit its lowest since December 2023.