Construction activity in the third quarter of 2005 in the A.C. of the Basque Country showed 8.5% nominal growth in relation to the same quarter of 2004, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data. For the first nine months of the year as a whole, growth came to 7.9% compared to the same period of last year.

Once seasonal effects were corrected to allow the comparison of quarters, the third quarter of the present year saw construction activity grow by 2.1% compared to the second quarter of 2005, showing slight acceleration with regard to the inter-quarterly rate of the previous quarter (0.3%).

The evolution of the construction sector in the third quarter of 2005 was buoyed up more by the Building sub-sector than by that of Civil Works, with the former achieving an inter-annual increase of 10.4%, compared to the 3.3% increase obtained by the latter. These positions were also maintained in accumulated terms, with 10.3% growth for Building over the three quarters completed so far and 4.2% for Civil Works.

In inter-quarterly terms, if we compare sector activity in the third quarter of 2005 with the second quarter of 2005, the Building sub-sector registered positive evolution of 2.3% and that of Civil Works obtained more modest inter-quarterly growth of 1.5%.

Employment in the construction sector in the third quarter of 2005 underwent a 1.2% rise with regard to the same period of the previous year, obtaining 0.5% inter-quarterly growth in relation to the first quarter of 2005.