Construction activity continued to increase in January, though residential projects declined for the third month in a row.
Greater new order volumes and increased employee numbers boosted construction industry the Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed today.
At 54.8 in January, the index- which is seasonally adjusted and designed to measure the overall performance of the construction economy - pointed to a robust expansion of the Irish construction sector.
The PMI has signalled growth in each month since September 2003.
Commenting on the survey, Pat McArdle, chief economist at Ulster Bank, said although overall, construction continued to grow strongly, this concealed contrasting trends in the components.
'Commercial is now expanding very rapidly, civil has lost some of its momentum and housing contracted again in January', he said.
He said: 'This had little effect on confidence which has recovered sharply - possibly on foot of the unveiling of the National Development Plan - but this is not apparent in new business volumes which continue to ease'.
He said availability of sub-contractors is good, and their charges are no longer growing strongly. He said the least satisfactory aspect of the January PMI was the sharp increase in cost inflation at a time when energy prices were falling.
Commercial was the best performing construction area, as activity expanded at the sharpest pace for eleven months.
While civil engineering activity continued to rise, the rate of growth eased for the sixth consecutive month and was the weakest since August 2005.
Work on residential projects declined for the third month in a row and rate of new order growth eased to forty-month low
Confidence at Irish construction firms increased in January to its highest since April 2005 and anecdotal evidence suggests this was attributable to plans for company expansion, marketing activities and recent tender enquiries.
Separate figures from the Central Statistics Office showed that employment in construction firms employing over five people rose 1.9% in December, compared to the same month in 2005.
The monthly employment index increased from 102.6 in December 2005, to 104.5 in December 2006.
The annual increase in employment was 2.5% for November 2006.
