The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the British construction sector rose to 64.6 (above 50 is growth) in January, up from 62.1 in December, survey showed Tuesday.

This was the sharpest expansion since August 2007. And the construction sector has shown increased growth from a 40-month low of 46.8 seen back in February 2013. The index is substantially above the 50.0 level that indicates flat activity.

New orders grew for a ninth month in a row, and employment in the sector rose for a ninth month running and at a robust rate, and was very close to the six-year high in November.

Martin Beck, British economist with Capital Economics, told Xinhua Tuesday afternoon that it is "definitely good news," adding that "this was the sharpest rise in construction output for over six years."

"The recovery is pretty broad-based across all areas of construction, but obviously housing stands out, which is at its strongest for 10 years." Beck said.

"It bodes quite well for GDP growth in the first quarter. We had a reasonably good manufacturing PMI survey on Monday and we are expecting a good services PMI survey on Wednesday; things are looking good." Beck added.

Beck said that the strong employment figures revealed in the PMI survey pointed towards increased job creation and the continued fall in the jobless total.

Unemployment figures have become significant for British macro-economic policy since the Bank of England (BOE) set 7 percent as the threshold at which it would review the Bank Rate, currently at an historical low of 0.5 percent.

Unemployment is at 7.1 percent, having fallen swiftly from 7.8 percent when the BOE set the threshold in August.

The figures will fuel market expectations that the unemployment rate will get down to 7 percent imminently, said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist with IHS Global Insight.

"It will likely fuel market suspicions that the BOE could very well start raising interest rates during 2014," he said.

He added, "The survey indicates that the construction sector's recovery is gaining momentum. Interestingly, there is no evidence in the survey that January's very wet weather and flooding had any significant dampening impact on construction activity." Endi

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