ONS figures say fall in repair and maintenance work also helped send growth into reverse

A fall in repair and maintenance work and February鈥檚 storms saw construction output that month fall for the first time since last October, official figures published today reveal.

The Office for National Statistics numbers show output slipped 0.1% to 拢14.6bn in February after a 1.6% rise the month before.

The ONS also blamed the February storms, which included Dudley and Eunice, for the slip with jobs delayed or suspended as a result.

dome

Source: Shutterstock

The O2 Arena in east London was among the structures damaged by Storm Eunice in the middle of February

Repair and maintenance work in February was down 0.5% while infrastructure slipped 2.5%.

But the ONS said output levels in February were 1.1% above the February 2020 pre-pandemic figure although new work was 3.7%, the equivalent of 拢354m, below.

And despite the monthly decrease, output was 2.4% up in the three months to February, the strongest quarterly rise since the 4% recorded for the three months to June last year.

Overall, the economy grew 0.1% in February, compared to the 0.8% growth seen in January.