Construction employment fell in April

Employment in the construction sector is continuing to fall as building of new houses and apartments contracts sharply, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this morning showed.

The construction employment index, which analyses the number of staff in private construction firms with five or more employees, contracted further April to 94 and is down 13.8 per cent on April 2007.

This marks an acceleration on the 12.4 per cent year-on-year drop recorded in March.

The monthly employment index is now at a five-year low and was last at 94 or less in November 2003. The based year for the index is 2000 when the index recorded a reading of 100.

Another assessment of the health of the construction sector was provided in a report from European industry group Euroconstruct today.

It predicted that the European construction sector will shrink this year as house building declines in western Europe.

Construction in the 19 countries tracked by the forecasting group will fall 0.3 per cent this year, Euroconstruct said today in statement.

The data suggests that new residential building in Ireland is expected to decline by 45 per cent this year

Overall homebuilding in western Europe will decrease by 8.6 per cent this year, dragged down by the contracting Irish and UK building sectors. Eastern Europe is expected to expand by 9.7 per cent this year.

According to Davy Stockbrokers 2008 could see the first Europe-wide decline in construction in 15 years.

"The data are positive for companies with eastern Europe exposure," Davy's Barry Dixon said today, citing CRH and Austria's Wienerberger AG, the world's biggest brickmaker.

"The news is not so positive for those with exposure to new residential markets in Ireland and the UK, such as the UK housebuilders", he said.