British construction output unexpectedly fell in August led by a decline in infrastructure projects but Britain's statistics office said the weakness did not appear to be linked to the Brexit vote in June.
Construction volumes fell by a monthly 1.5 percent in August after a revised increase of 0.5 percent in July.
"As the fall this month is led by infrastructure, it seems unlikely that post-referendum uncertainties are having an impact," Kate Davies, a statistician with the Office for National Statistics, said.
Compared with August 2015, volumes inched up by 0.2 percent, weaker than the median forecast of 1.5 percent in the Reuters poll.
The weak performance in August made it likely that construction would be a drag on overall economic growth in the third quarter. In the three months to August, output was down 1.3 percent compared with the three months to May, the ONS said
All areas of the sector fell in August compared with July with the exception of private commercial work, the ONS said. There have been signs that the sector fared better in September, according to a private purchasing managers survey published earlier this month.
