Spain's building sector fastest growing in EU
Spain's building sector grew seven percent in the second quarter of 2014 making it the top performer in the European Union, welcome news for the sector that was left battered and bruised by Spain's economic crisis.
By clocking up the seven-percent rise, Spain outstripped a poor-performing EU which saw construction activity slide by 0.6 percent.
Spain also recorded a 6.8-percent year-on-year rise in construction, the fourth strongest figure in the 28-member bloc according to the preliminary figures from the EU's statistics agency Eurostat.
In the EU as a whole, there was a 2.3-percent slide from June 2013 to June 2014.
The strong figures for Spain in the second quarter as a whole were offset, however, by a 2.9-percent drop from May to June. The equivalent figure for the EU was a fall of 0.7 percent.
Slovenia is the real boom story of the EU with construction rising 28.7 percent from June 2013 to June 2014.
At the other end of the scale, Romania saw the biggest decrease: construction was down 13.1 percent in the eastern European country.
Spain's building industry was among the worst hit by Spain's economy crisis.
Construction in Spain plummeted by 15.9 percent from June 2007 to June 2008 after the country's property bubble burst, sending the country into recession.
A 2013 study by employment services firm Manpower estimated Spain's construction sector shed 367,000 jobs from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2013.
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By clocking up the seven-percent rise, Spain outstripped a poor-performing EU which saw construction activity slide by 0.6 percent.
Spain also recorded a 6.8-percent year-on-year rise in construction, the fourth strongest figure in the 28-member bloc according to the preliminary figures from the EU's statistics agency Eurostat.
In the EU as a whole, there was a 2.3-percent slide from June 2013 to June 2014.
The strong figures for Spain in the second quarter as a whole were offset, however, by a 2.9-percent drop from May to June. The equivalent figure for the EU was a fall of 0.7 percent.
Slovenia is the real boom story of the EU with construction rising 28.7 percent from June 2013 to June 2014.
At the other end of the scale, Romania saw the biggest decrease: construction was down 13.1 percent in the eastern European country.
Spain's building industry was among the worst hit by Spain's economy crisis.
Construction in Spain plummeted by 15.9 percent from June 2007 to June 2008 after the country's property bubble burst, sending the country into recession.
A 2013 study by employment services firm Manpower estimated Spain's construction sector shed 367,000 jobs from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2013.
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