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Growth in construction workloads eased in the third quarter of 2006, an RICS report issued this week claims. The economic brief said output data showed just 0.5% growth for the period.

The report said growth was still above the level last year and pointed to private commercial and private housing as booming sectors. "They have grown above their long-running average for four consecutive quarters," the report stated. The brief adds that private industrial sector workloads are showing signs of stabilising.

Vacancy levels rose by just more than 10% for the 12 months to September as the industry emerges from the slowdown last year, the report said. Yet despite a strong demand for labour surveyors, it reported that skills shortages for trades people was at a low level. This was due to the effect of migrant workers coming in from Eastern Europe. The effect of this migrant flow was felt across all regions barring Scotland, where skill shortages were the highest since the first quarter of 2000.

The optimism of surveyors for future rosy economic conditions was above the long running average, the report found. However expectations of profits was less optimistic with high energy and raw material costs "becoming embedded in medium term expectations for the industry".