UK Construction Slump Gets Worse as Cost Pressures Intensify

Building works at a residential construction site in Ockham, UK.Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

British builders posted the largest decline in output since November as the Iran war pushed up input prices and discouraged sales.

S&P Global’s gauge of construction activity declined to a five-month low of 39.7 in April, down from 45.6 in March. The index fell further below the 50 threshold signaling decline, defying economists’ expectations of a slight uptick to 46.