Building construction output fell 1.6 percent in May 2019, but the Czech Statistics Office reports that compared to May 2018, civil engineering rose 5.5 percent. The number of housing starts fell 12.3 percent to 3,345 units, with family home starts dropping 11.2 percent. The results were even more dramatic with apartment buildings, with the number of flats collapsing 22.1 percent, according to the CSU. Its construction specialist said the poor showing was largely because May 2018 was an unusually strong month. Overall, industrial output growth dropped 3.2 percent y-o-y in May, slightly worse than the 3.3 percent in April.
