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For 1999 we expect housebuilding output to be near static, although starts will have picked up by 6% as interest rates drop. Manufacturing industry's hard time means that new industrial building will be down by over 2%. However the momentum inherent in the commercial sector will ensure growth of around 10% while the public sector will remain flat. The infrastructure sector (up 6%) will be boosted briefly by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Generally, repair and maintenance activity (R&M) will slow in the first half of the year, in response to the economy in 1999.
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