UK construction PMI stuck at lowest level since July Tim Moore, senior economist at survey compiler Markit, said: "January's survey results are yet another indicator of the severe underlying fragility across the UK construction sector. Snowfall at the start of the year may have disrupted output to some degree, but unfavourable weather outside is clearly far down the long list of difficulties afflicting construction companies at present. There were some brighter signs for the industry, however, as business confidence about the outlook over the next 12 months continued to improve from the near four-year low seen last November, hitting the highest reading since last July. However, Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the PMI survey indicates that the sector's problems are far from over. "Even allowing for a likely significant hit to activity from the snow the January purchasing managers" survey suggests that renewed construction contraction is more likely than not in the first quarter of 2013," he said. For now at least, the construction sector continues to face major headwinds, notably including limited public investment and spending, an extended weak economy, a still struggling housing sector, and problems in getting funding for large-scale projects. Construction accounts for just 6.8pc of UK national output but has been one the main drags on economic growth since the crisis, and remains about 15pc smaller as an industry that its 2008 peak.