LONDON, March 6 Reuters British construction activity grew at its fastest pace in nine months in February after two months of declines, as a rebound in commercial work and civil engineering helped offset a continued fall in housebuilding, a survey showed on Monday.

The SP GlobalCIPS UK Purchasing Managers39; Index PMI for the construction sector jumped to 54.6 in February, up from 48.4 in January, its highest since May 2022 and well above economists39; average expectation of 49.1 in a Reuters poll.

The sharp rebound mirrors a similar increase in Friday39;s services PMI, which grew at its fastest pace in June, easing many analysts39; concerns that Britain39;s economy was slipping into recession.

However, Tim Moore, economics director at SP Global, said cutbacks in new house building projects remained a weak spot for activity in the construction sector.

Britain39;s housing market has slowed in recent months, hurt by a dent in demand for new homes as higher borrowing costs and a surge in the cost of living deterred prospective buyers.

Mortgage lender Nationwide reported last week that house prices in February were 1.1 down on a year earlier the biggest annual fall since 2012 and had fallen 3.7 since their peak in August 2022.

The housebuilding industry was the worstperforming construction sector as residential building work fell for the third month in a row. Builders blamed headwinds from higher interest rates and subdued client demand.

Last week British homebuilder…