In the first quarter of 2005, construction activity in the A.C. of the Basque Country registered 7.9% nominal growth with regard to the same quarter in 2004, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data.

Once corrected for seasonal effects, to make the quarters comparable, in the first quarter of the current year construction activity rose by 3.5% in relation to the last quarter of 2004, surpassing the previous inter-quarterly rate, which had been 1.6%.

The positive evolution of the construction sector, in the first quarter of 2005, is based more on the Building subsector than on Civil Works, the former reaching an inter-annual rise of 9.9%, compared to a 3.5% increase obtained by the latter, after correction for the effect of the working calendar.

In inter-quarterly terms, if we compare the activity of the sector in the first quarter of 2005 with regard to the last quarter of 2004, the building subsector showed 3.7% positive evolution and civil works obtained inter-quarterly growth of 3.3%, once corrected for seasonal effects.

Employment in the construction sector in the first quarter of 2005 registered 0.3% growth in gross terms with regard to the same period the year before, giving inter-quarterly growth of 0.1% with regard to the last quarter of 2004, once the quarterly data was deseasonalised.