Saturday 26 June 2010

Construction industry labour market

Understanding the divergence between output and employment in the UK construction industry by Yonathan van den Brink and Mavis Anagboso (Office for National Statistics) published in Economic & Labour Market Review Volume 4 Issue 3 (March 2010)


This article examines recent divergence between output and employment in the UK construction industry. It looks at the construction labour market and highlights how its flexibility (in relation to other industries) may have contributed to the observed divergence. It also looks at structural changes in the UK economy that may have contributed to the observed divergence between employment and output. Notably, it considers the measurement of migrant workers in the construction sector and the growth in the number of small businesses. The article concludes that, although construction statistics are well developed, the construction industry’s unique characteristics still present significant challenges in the measurement methodology of output and employment. (Original summary)

Read full article (PDF 6pp) and enjoy the clear explanation as to why the construction industry employment and output figures seem to be in divergence with the former going up while the latter comes down.

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