Key Statistics: 21st August 2012

Glenigan's weekly roundup of keys statistics for the UK construction industry and the wider economy.

Construction

• UK house prices increased by 2.3%, unchanged from the 12 months to May, according to the House Price Index published by ONS. Prices of new dwellings rose by 5.9% during the 12 months to June 2012, while the price of pre-owned dwellings increased by 2.1%. The index was previously published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
• The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reports that gross mortgage lending rose 8% during July from £11.7 billion in June and was 2% higher than the total of £12.5 billion in July 2011.

UK Economy

• The headline measure of inflation, the Consumer Prices Index, accelerated to an annual rate of 2.6% in July from 2.4% the previous month. The Retail Prices Index, a wider measure which includes housing costs, recorded annual inflation 3.2%, up from 2.8% in July.
• The number of people in employment rose by 201,000 to 29.48 million during the second quarter of 2012, according to National Statistics. The number unemployed was 2.56 million or 8.0% of the economically active population. This was down 0.2% on the previous quarter, with 46,000 fewer people unemployed.
• Retail sales volumes in July were up 2.8% on July 2011, while the value of retail sales rose 3.1% over the same period, according to National Statistics.