UK construction output falls for first time in five months amid steep downturn in housing activity

UK construction companies signalled a renewed decline in business activity during June as a steep and accelerated downturn in house building weighed on overall workloads. Latest data also highlighted a reduction in new orders for the first time since January. On a more positive note, softer demand and fewer supply bottlenecks resulted in the sharpest improvement in delivery times for construction inputs since July 2009. This also contributed to an outright decline in purchasing prices for the first time in thirteen-and-a-half years. At 48.9 in June, down from 51.6 in May, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P