Hungary construction sector grows 7.6% in July

Output of Hungary's construction sector grew 7.6% in July from the same month a year earlier, according to both unadjusted and workday-adjusted data, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Monday. Except for a rise in November 2011, this was the first yr/yr increase since June 2009.
Output rose from a low base last year, and was boosted by some road construction, railways renovation and, to a lesser extent, communal investment projects, KSH said. Output of the building segment fell 0.3% yr/yr in July, while the civil engineering segment grew 15.5%. The base was low in both segments, both contracting a sharp 17.8% yr/yr in July 2011. In a month-on-month comparison, construction sector output rose a seasonally and workday-adjusted 8.6% in July after two months of decline.
The sector contracted 7.3% in January-July from the same period a year earlier after a full-year decline of 7.9% in 2011. Hungary's construction sector output fell every year since 2006. New order stock was down 3.3% in July from twelve months earlier. New orders in the building segment totalled HUF 42.3 billion in nominal terms, and were down 11.6% yr/yr in volume. They were worth HUF 79,8 billion, climbing 1.8% yr/yr in volume terms in the civil engineering segment.
Total order stock rose 0.7% in July from the same month a year earlier. Orders were down 21.4% in the building segment but up 13.2% in the civil engineering segment.
Output in the building segment was worth HUF 67.2 billion in July and civil engineering output was worth HUF 79.1 billion. Total order stock held at the end of July totalled HUF 160.8 billion in the segment of buildings and total orders held by the civil engineering reached HUF 410.3 billion.