According to the latest Department of Trade and Industry figures, the total volume of new work in the quarter ending July was 2% ahead of both the same period in 2005 and the first quarter of this year. Fastest growth came in public housing, where volume ws up 8% on 2005 and 5% on the first quarter of 2006. The new build areas which showed a decline in activity were public non-housing and infrastructure. The latter experienced the sharpest fall-off, down 4% on 2005 and 1% on the first three months of this year.
New construction work in the private industrial sector in the year to the second quarter 2006 was 11% higher, although declined 1% on the first quarter of the year. New private commercial output in the 12 month period was 7% ahead.
Housing RMI in the public sector in the second quarter was 10% lower than the same period in 2005, while it was down 2% in private housing.
In public non-housing, RMI fell by 2% on 2005 and in non-private housing it was down 1%.
