Over the first quarter of 2006 construction activity in the A.C. of the Basque Country registered 8.9% nominal growth with regard to the same quarter in 2005, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to EUSTAT data.

Once corrected for seasonal effects, the construction sector grew by 1.3% in this first quarter of 2006 on the fourth quarter of 2005, thus showing a slight deceleration on the inter-quarterly rate for the previous quarter (3.3%).

The evolution of the construction sector in the first quarter of 2006 was sustained more in the Building subsector than in Civil Works, the former reaching an inter-annual growth rate of 10.9%, compared to the 4.2% increase in the latter.

In inter-quarterly terms, if the activity of the sector in the first quarter of 2006 is compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, the Building subsector shows a 2.4% positive evolution and the Civil Works subsector presents a 2.6% negative inter-quarterly evolution. Therefore, Building shows a slightly accelerated profile, while Civil Works registered a notable inter-quarterly recession.

Construction sector employment, in the first quarter of 2006, increased by 2.2% in gross data with regard to the same period the previous year and remained inalterable (0.0%) in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2005.