The monthly report courtesy of the Ai Group (Australian Industry Group) has shown that the national construction industry has fallen back from where it was in September. The Australian PCI® (otherwise known as the Australian Performance of Construction Index) has dropped “5.5 points to a 20-month low of 45.9”.

The Australian PCI® works on a point system where 50 points is your average/median and anything above or below indicates a drop or rise in that area respectively. It is made up of four sectors; Construction Activity (which is split into four categories; Housing, Commercial, Engineering & Apartments), New Orders, Deliveries and Employment.

Ai Group Head of Policy, Peter Burn, said: “The construction sector slipped backwards in October with each of the four sub-sectors recording a decrease in activity for the month. The decline of engineering construction into negative territory reflects the vulnerability of the sub-sector to the concentration of activity in transport infrastructure in the south eastern corner of the country. While the falls in residential building activity are coming from high levels, further easing is indicated by further falls in new orders in October. There is clearly scope for an increase in infrastructure spending to help offset the unwinding of the big mining and energy sector projects and the retreat of residential activity”

But it’s not all doom and gloom, although employment is down, it is still sitting at 50.2 points and wages are sitting well above at 58.4, even after both experienced a decrease in October.

Click here to see the report: http://bit.ly/2fDj4nv