CE Barometer August 2008: Gloom deepens
By Chris Sleight29 August 2008
A balance of -9,0% of European construction professionals who responded to the August survey said they thought activity levels in a year's time would be lower than today - a deeper low than the figure of -4,6% recorded in July. The balance figure is the percentage of respondents giving positive responses, minus the number giving negative answers.
Respondents were also negative on the current situation, with a balance of -22,0% saying activity levels fell off in August. Again this was lower than July's figure of -16%.
A further indication of falling activity was that a balance of -26,5% of respondents said activity was lower last month than in August 2007. All three measures of confidence were at their lowest since the Barometer was launched in December 2006.
This all meant that the ‘CE climate' - an amalgamation of results from all three of these questions also hit a new low of -19,2%.
Reading the clock
The angle of the arrow gives an indication of the point in the cycle the European construction industry is currently at. In August activity fell compared to the previous month and sentiment about the future turned, indicating recession conditions. The length of the arrow indicates the strength of the sentiment.Take part
CE would like to thank all those that took part in the August survey. It was completed by more than 300 construction professionals in 29 countries around the region.
The survey, which takes just a one minute to complete, is open to all construction professionals working in Europe. The CE Barometer survey is open from the 1st to the 15th of each month on our website. Full information can be found at www.cebarometer.eu.
