The balance of the first nine months of 2019 shows that numbers are slightly higher than those of 2018, but show a slowdown when compared to the previous quarter. The Industrial Observatory of Construction takes stock and explains the reasons for this tendency in the figures of some of the indicators.

The Industrial Observatory of Construction assesses the first nine months of 2019 in a detailed report that compares annual growth of the construction sector. It is based on various indicators. The general conclusion is that, if the construction sector is experimenting a sustained growth in comparison with the previous year, this tendency slows if you compare numbers with the first quarter.
Some of the indicators focused on are the amount of affiliations, companies created, bids, number of new housing permits and number of mortgages. The number of affiliates to Social Security rose 4.1 % in relation to the previous year (always during the same period), and consequently, the number of unemployed decreased 9.4%.
Other data used in the comparative is the number of contracts. In this case, the amount went down when compared to 2018. By activity, the numbers are lower in civil engineering, specialized construction and building construction contracts. On the contrary, the number of companies registered in the Social Security grew by 2.9 %.
The new housing permits and the number of mortgages also grew in comparison to the previous year, 16.9% and 9.8% respectively. But of all the values, public work procurement grew the most in this period of 2019. In fact, the increase of bids, in relation to the same period of the previous year, grew 41.3 %.
The report concludes that the data of 2019 shows a positive evolution, a less intense growth than in the last few years but without stalling. The construction sector is one of the economic motors and, therefore should assume its transformation by relying on qualified work, specialized training and innovation to become a more competitive, sustainable, professional and capable sector able to face the challenges of the future.