The first signs are emerging that the Spanish government’s attempts to stimulate the economy might be having some effect, in the building trade at least. Spanish construction sector output rose by 3.2% in April compared to March, the second biggest month-on-month rise of any European country bar the Czech Republic, according to new figures from Eurostat – the EU’s statistics office.
This bucks a downward trend over the last couple of months, when construction sector output fell 2.7% in March, and 5.8% in February, in both cases compared to the preceding month.
Year-on-year output is down 5.8% compared to April last year, but this decline represents a marked improvement on March, which was down 20%. YOY Spain even outperformed France (-6.8%), and the UK (-8.4%).
The slight improvement in construction output coincides with the roll out of the government’s ‘Plan E’ crisis response to stimulate the economy with major public works projects. This also helped reduce the unemployment rate in April.