UK's construction sector records weakest performance in four years

Data released by Office for National Statistics showed that UK's construction output hit its lowest level in four years in July to September quarter. Construction volumes fell by 1.1 percent q/q in Q3, marking the weakest performance since the third quarter of 2012. Still, the fall was less severe than the preliminary estimate of a decline of 1.4 percent.

Compared with a year earlier, volumes in September were up by 0.2 percent, slowing from an increase of 0.8 percent in August, better than forecasts for an annual fall of 0.4 percent.

Details of the report showed that value of all repair and maintenance was 3.6 percent lower than in the second quarter of the year. Large falls in repairs were only partly offset by small rises in infrastructure and public building work.

Britain's construction industry constitutes about 6 percent of the economy and a closely watched survey of purchasing managers in the sector has shown a more upbeat picture of construction than the official data.

ONS said it did not plan to revise its estimate for overall economic growth in the third quarter - which came in stronger than expected at 0.5 percent - after the two reports. ONS statistician Kate Davies said. "Construction output has remained broadly flat in the last year, both before and after the recent referendum."