The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI®) posted 52.2 in December, down from 53.1 in November but above the 50.0 no-change threshold for the third month running. As a result, the latest reading signalled a moderate expansion of overall construction output at the end of 2017. Survey respondents indicated that house building remained a key engine of growth, with residential work expanding for the sixteenth consecutive month in December.