Construction (west):
Revival in building activity

In west German construction there was no improvement to the very unfavourable business situation. A slight improvement in building construction was offset by a worsening in civil engineering. Building activity was increased, but equipment utilisation only grew slightly and the utilisation rate at 60% was below the previous-year value. The range of order backlogs has not changed, averaging 2.4 months (previous year: 2.5 months). Correspondingly, assessments of order books remained negative. The business outlook was regarded a little less pessimistically than in February, particularly in firms active in civil engineering.