UK construction slides again, pulled down by weak housebuilding, PMI shows

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Britain's construction sector marked its 20th month of contraction in August, dragged down by a severe downturn in the housebuilding sector, a survey showed on Friday.

The S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 44.3 in August from 44.7 in July, a long way below the 50 threshold for growth. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 45.5.

Here are the key points from the survey:

• Housebuilding activity deteriorated sharply, although the gauges for the commercial and civil engineering sectors improved slightly

• "Sluggish demand conditions and low client confidence, combined with anxiety about the impact of the Middle East conflict, were again factors contributing to lower workloads across the construction sector," said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global

• Construction firms shed jobs but at the slowest pace since September 2025

• Weakness in the housebuilding sector underscores the challenge facing Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who intends to ramp up the supply of social housing

• PMI gauge of input prices fell to its lowest level since February

• Official gauge of construction output in June stood 2.3% lower than a year ago

• The all-sector PMI, which combines manufacturing, services and construction data, rose to a six-month high of 51.8 in August from 51.6 in July

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Hugh Lawson)