Key Statistics: 16 June 2015

Construction

• Construction output is estimated to have fallen once more in the three months to April, by 0.5% compared to the previous three months. However significant changes to the level of cost inflation assumed in the statistics have resulted in large changes from previous data. Output in the first quarter is now therefore now estimated to have been up 3.7% on a year earlier in the first quarter of 2015; the March estimate was of a 1.1% fall. The price deflators and headline figures are likely to see several further large revisions in the coming months.

Economy

• The pace of UK GDP growth rose to 0.6% in the three months to May according to estimates by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR). This is an uptick from the 0.5% growth they estimate for the three months to April, and double the 0.3% rate in the first quarter recorded by official figures.
• Mortgage approvals in April picked up to their highest level in over a year, in a sign that the impact of curbs on mortgage lending introduced by the Bank of England last year is now beginning to ease. According to the Bank of England there were 68,076 mortgages approved during the month; a rise of 10% on March and of 8% compared to April 2014.