CONSTRUCTION work done rose in the December quarter, boosted by government stimulus spending which is mitigating the effects of the credit crunch and economic downturn on the industry, according to Master Builders Australia.

Peter Jones, Master Builders Australia’s chief economist said, “Government programs such as Building the Education Revolution are strongly cushioning the building and construction industry from what would have been a sharp downturn. In the past six months, building and engineering work done for the public sector has contributed an additional $2.9 billion to total construction, offsetting a big fall in private work.”

“Engineering construction activity will continue to trend lower although the pipeline of resources-related work yet to be done and government infrastructure spending should cushion the impending fall. The key to the outlook for the construction industry will be whether a sustained upswing in the residential sector can offset weak non-residential building and engineering construction sectors,” said Jones.

o Seasonally adjusted, the chain volume of construction work done in the December quarter rose by 2.6 per cent to $40.1 billion to be 3.9 per cent above levels in December quarter 2008.
o The chain volume of building work done in the December quarter rose by 6.1 per cent to $19.3 billion, to be down 0.4 per cent on the previous December quarter.
o Work done on residential building fell by 2.9 per cent to $10.3 billion, to be down 6.2 per cent on the corresponding figure a year earlier.
o Non-residential building rose by 18.6 per cent to $9.0 billion, to be up 7.0 per cent on December quarter 2008.
o Engineering construction work done fell by 0.5 per cent to $20.8 billion to be up 8.3 per cent on the previous December quarter level.