Construction output decreased by 2.2% in the third quarter of 2015, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The figure follows an increase of 1.4% between April and June 2015.

It is the first time in over three years that the industry has posted a negative score.


Within production, manufacturing fell by 0.3%, mining and quarrying increased by 2.4% and water/waste management increased 1.2%.

Overall, the UK's GDP growth slowed to 0.5%

ONS Chief Economist, Joe Grice, said: "While growth has slowed from the previous quarter, the economy overall is still expanding steadily.

"However, the sectoral pattern is mixed. Growth in the services sector has been robust but both manufacturing and construction output have shown falls."

(LM/MH)