Britain's construction sector witnessed a robust growth in February as the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector reached 14-month high, said a report published Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted PMI rose to 52.6 last month, higher than its 50.0 no-change mark and above January's reading of 48.4, said a joint report from the IHS Markit, a London-based global information provider, and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), a British-based global procurement and supply organisation.

Data showed that residential activity remained the best-performing construction category, with the strongest expansion of house building activity since July 2018.

Meanwhile, commercial work returned to growth in February, with the sub-sector posting its fastest increase in business activity since November 2018.

Notably, the new orders in the sector recorded the sharpest jump since December 2015.

Tim Moore, economics director at IHS Markit, said the survey data signalled that the sector has started to "rebound after a downturn through the second half of last year."

"There were widespread reports that pent-up demand released since the general election had helped to boost workloads, especially in relation to house building and commercial construction projects," added Moore.

Duncan Brock, group director at the CIPS, said the construction sector is likely to see more challenges in supply chains in March.

"Given the slowdown in the global economy and potential coronavirus impacts, the sector could struggle to maintain February's strong performance and may experience slower progress as we head into spring," said Brock. Enditem