Italian construction activity declined for the third time in the past five months during November, amid the first decrease in new business levels since May.
Despite the falls in activity and new orders, firms took on additional orders at the fastest pace in five months.
Meanwhile, on the price front, amid greater raw material prices, input cost inflation quickened to a six-month high.
The headline figure from the survey is the IHS Markit Italy Construction Total Activity Index.
This is a diffusion index that tracks changes in the total volume of construction activity compared with one month previously, and is adjusted for seasonal variations.
At 48.2 in November, down from 50.1 in October, the index signalled the third contraction in Italian construction activity in the past five months.
Despite this, the rate of decrease was only modest.
For the first time since August, all three monitored subsectors recorded a decrease in activity.
The fastest rate of contraction in output was registered by civil engineering firms, followed by commercial construction companies.
Meanwhile, residential construction firms observed the fastest decrease in activity in three months during November.
The contraction in overall activity was linked to a decline in inflows of new business.
Italian construction firms recorded the first decrease in new orders since May.
Despite being marginal, the rate of contraction was the most marked since July 2017.
Panellists stated that the decline was due to weaker overall demand conditions in November.
Despite of the declines in activity and new orders, Italian construction firms increased their workforce numbers again during November.
The rate of job creation, though modest, quickened to the fastest since June.
Employment among Italian construction firms has increased on a monthly basis since February.
For the third time in the past five months, purchasing activity across the Italian construction sector declined in November.
However, the rate of contraction was only marginal overall.
Panellists commented that they had reduced buying levels in response to receiving fewer customer orders.
Amid widespread reports of greater raw material prices (notably oil and plastic), input costs rose sharply in November, with the rate of inflation quickening to a sixmonth high.
Meanwhile, average lead times lengthened again in November, with vendor performance deteriorating to the greatest extent in four months.
Looking ahead, business confidence improved slightly from October's recent low, with around 23% of survey respondents anticipating activity to increase over the coming 12 months.
Companies noted that greater positive sentiment was linked to an increase in customer orders as well as planned investments. ■