Slow but sure | Features

Focus on the regions
North and north-west England had a particularly busy month in July – and the easing of a decrease in orders suggests contractors in the South-east can afford to be optimistic
	Activity level			Order books
	May	Jun	Jul	May	Jun	Jul
Scotland	39	50	53	30	46	29
Northern Ireland	67	n/a	65	45	n/a	40
North England	64	48	67	57	53	56
North-west England	58	62	72	47	41	40
Yorkshire & Humberside	33	54	50	45	50	50
Wales	56	47	50	72	75	72
East Midlands	60	59	62	54	61	63
West Midlands	46	42	57	33	28	32
East Anglia	53	60	53	49	47	50
South-east	51	60	52	36	38	49
South-west	54	59	55	44	57	50
An index measure of 50 indicates no change, a measure greater than 50 an increase and a measure less than 50 a decrease