The figure also shows a 2% drop on the previous quarter and a 21% decrease over the last seven quarters.
Even so, 950 construction companies went out of business during the three-month period, and the industry is still lagging behind the UK as a whole which saw 13.9% fewer company insolvencies this quarter compared to a year ago.
Alan Harris, partner at construction commercial risk specialist CR Management, said: “Despite the deepening concerns over available workload and the continuing practice of tightening margins, the construction industry in England and Wales is holding up well.
But he warned: “Cash flow will become even more important over the coming months as contracts being worked on into 2011 will have been secured on 2009 and 2010 prices so buying margins will become more difficult to achieve.
“There are also the added fears of material and labour increases that will put even more pressure margins. The industry has already seen one large contractor bite the dust in the last quarter and if another were to perish then the ripples will be felt throughout the industry.”
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