Germany's construction activity continued to expand sharply at the start of the third quarter, survey data from IHS Markit showed Friday.
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The construction Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.8 in July from 55.1 in June. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
Moreover, the latest score reflected the second-fastest rate of growth since March 2016.
Among sectors, commercial activity registered the sharpest rate of growth, closely followed by civil engineering activity, which posted the third-fastest rate of expansion in the survey history.
New orders received by German construction firms grew for the ninth successive month in July and the rate of growth accelerated since June.
Consequently, firms raised their workforce numbers for the twenty-fifth consecutive month.
Purchasing activity increased at the second-fastest rate since March 2016. This generated further pressure on supply chains, with average input delivery times lengthening to the greatest extent since December 2006.
On the price front, input price inflation accelerated to a three-month high in July.
Germany's factory orders grew at a faster pace in June, exceeding expectations, as the rebound in domestic demand offset the decline in foreign demand.
Orders grew a more-than-expected 1% in June from May, when they increased by a revised 1.1%, data from Destatis showed Friday. They were forecast to grow moderately by 0.5%.
Domestic orders grew 5.1%, while foreign bookings declined 2% in June. Demand from the euro area eased 2.4%, and orders from other countries decreased 1.5%.
Excluding major orders, manufacturing bookings climbed 2% on month in June.
Manufacturers of intermediate goods reported a 3.7% increase in orders and consumer goods orders advanced 2.3%. Meanwhile, the manufacturers of capital goods showed decreases of 0.8%.
Year-on-year, order growth accelerated to 5.1% in June from 3.8% in May. Growth was forecast to improve to 4.4%.
Data showed that manufacturing turnover gained 0.3% month-on-month in June, slightly faster than the revised 0.1% rise seen in May. ■