European construction output see strong increase in June

Construction output both in the eurozone and the wider European Union (EU) saw strong increases in June, EU statistical bureau Eurostat said Wednesday.

After a 0.7-percent drop in May, construction output in the eurozone rose by 2.7 percent month-on-month in June and gained 3.1 percent year-on-year, according to Eurostat.

In June, building construction jumped 3.3 percent in the 16-nation eurozone while civil engineering gained 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, for the 27-member EU, construction output in June increased by 3.5 percent month-on-month and rose by 5.4 percent year-on-year.

Among the member states for which data were available, the highest monthly increases were seen in Romania and Spain, which rose by 16.5 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

The sharpest decreases were observed in Hungary and the Netherlands, by 2.3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

The construction output of Germany, the leading economy in the eurozone, declined by 0.9 percent in June, much less than the 1.9-percent decrease in May.

According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2010, construction output in the eurozone increased by 2.9 percent, compared with a decrease of 3.3 percent in the previous quarter, while that in the EU increased by 4.3 percent after dropping by 2 percent in the previous quarter.

Source:Xinhua