Eurozone construction activity contracts again in August

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone construction activity contracted again in August, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The HCOB construction purchasing managers' index dipped to 43.4 from 43.5 in July, coming in below the 50.0 that separates contraction from expansion and falling at the fastest pace this year.

Housing construction was the main drag on overall construction activity, although all three monitored segments saw contractions in August.

HCOB said Germany posted the steepest fall in housebuilding and one that was among the strongest in the series history, as well as the sharpest reduction in commercial construction.

Dr. Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said: "This is not a good time to be in construction in the eurozone. Especially those companies focused on the housing sector find themselves in a tough spot. Activity has gone from bad to worse with the corresponding PMI output index - excluding the pandemic-affected months in early 2020 - at the lowest level since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008/2009.

"It's all relative: given the depression in the housing sector, the fact that commercial and civil engineering activity is decreasing at a somewhat slower pace means that these sectors are stabilizing the overall sector somewhat. Along the same lines, while new orders are still decreasing at a strong pace, the slight increase in the index reading could suggest that the free fall is starting to taper off."