UK July construction output steady, beats expectation for a post-Brexit fall

The official numbers on Britain's construction industry covering first full month after the June vote to leave the European Union showed that British construction output held steady, bucking expectations for a fall.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that construction volumes in UK were unchanged in July after a 1.0 percent drop in June, a smaller fall than the average 0.8 percent decline forecast in a Reuters poll. The ONS said there was very little anecdotal evidence that the vote to leave the EU had affected construction output.

Details of the report showed new construction orders in the three months to the end of June were 8.6 percent higher than the previous quarter, the biggest rise since the second quarter of 2013. Private housing was up 28.2 percent on the quarter, the sharpest jump since 2010.

Britain's construction industry makes up 6 percent of the economy and data was another evidence to show Britain's economy has shown signs of weathering the initial shock of the vote to leave the EU better than many economists had feared. That said, the Bank of England still expects construction to be one of the hardest hit sectors.