Construction PMI

The S&P Global UK Construction PMI is a monthly survey of British building work, first collected in April 1997. It belongs to PMI surveys covering over 40 countries, and releases before 2022 were issued as IHS Markit / CIPS UK Construction PMI. It asks around 150 construction firms, chosen by workforce size and economic weight, about change since the prior month. Each answer feeds a diffusion index, a 0 to 100 score of direction with 50.0 as no change.

Responses are collected in the latter half of each reference month and released early the following month under embargo until 0930 London time. Each release shows the headline index plus Housing, Commercial and Civil Engineering activity, new work, jobs, costs and delivery speed. It also gives year ahead expectations as shares expecting rise versus decline, plus economist comment and methods note. Survey answers are never revised, but seasonal factors may be revised, and 50.0 marks no change from the prior month.

Moves come from building segments, demand, jobs, costs and supply speed.

• Housing Activity: residential building work versus prior month.
• Commercial Activity: commercial building work versus prior month.
• Civil Engineering Activity: infrastructure and civil work versus prior month.
• New Orders: incoming new work and order books versus prior month.
• Employment and purchasing activity: staffing numbers and input demand versus prior month.
• Input Prices: purchase costs, where above 50.0 means inflation from prior month.
• Suppliers Delivery Times: supplier speed, where above 50.0 means faster delivery from prior month.

The 6 May 2020 release put April 2020 at 8.2, down from 39.3, the lowest since 1997, as lockdown shut sites. Housing fell to 7.3 and Commercial to 7.7, while Civil Engineering at 14.6 proved most resilient. Supplier delays were the longest since 1997, with 75% reporting delays, showing stress even as activity collapsed. The 4 June 2020 release put May 2020 at 28.9, still far below 50.0, so a sharp rise can still mean slower decline.

1. Diffusion index: for each survey variable the score adds the share reporting higher activity plus 0.5 times the share reporting no change.
2. Formula: Index = H + 0.5 x U, where H is higher share and U is unchanged share, from 0 to 100. Lower responses add nothing. As an example, 20% higher, 30% lower and 50% unchanged gives 20 + 0.5 x 50 = 45.
3. Reading: above 50.0 means overall increase from prior month and below 50.0 means decrease, with headline Total Activity Index tracking total volume change. The 45 example is below 50.0, so it signals overall decrease before seasonal adjustment.