Construction: Unfavourable Weather Conditions

The business climate in construction continued to cloud over in February. Assessments of the current business situation were marginally less favourable than last month. Confidence in the six-month business outlook also waned. Machinery capacity utilisation was 76.1%. 71% of the contractors surveyed reported constraints on construction activity. Over three fifths cited unfavourable weather conditions as the major cause. This is the highest figure seen in February since 2013 (77%). In 2016 this figure was 43%. A lack of orders was cited as a problem for 15% of the contractors surveyed (February 2016: 21%). On average across the construction segments the order backlog stagnated at 3.6 months (February 2016: 2.9 months). According to firm reports, price increases were implemented slightly more frequently than last month. Survey participants expect slightly less scope for price increases over the next three months. The contractors surveyed expect recruitment figures to rise in the near future.