CE Barometer June 2011: Slowdown or seasonal lull?

June saw the CE Barometer continue to indicate a boom, with a strong positive balance of survey respondents saying that work was both increasing month-on-month and that future prospects were bright. However, there was a slide in the strength of those sentiments, following consistently strong results for the last four or five months.

A balance of +15,0% of respondents said they saw month-on-month activity improve in June - down from +18,5% in May and results that were in the +20% to +30% range from February to April.

Similarly, while a balance of +31,7% of respondents saying they believed activity would be higher in a year's time was a strong result, it was a step down from The first five months of this year. From January to May, the responses to this question had been +40% or higher.

But while the strength of sentiment may be wavering a little, there was no indication from June's survey that the construction market was getting any worse. A balance of +20% of respondents said activity was higher now than a year ago.

The overall impact of these changes was that the overall confidence level slipped from the highs of +30% or more seen in February to May to +22,2%. It remains to be seen whether this is symptomatic of the normal summer lull in activity that usually appears in the CE Barometer's results around this time of year, or whether there is a genuine weakening in the market.

Take part

CE would like to thank all those that took part in the May survey. It was completed by more than 300 construction professionals in 30 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 15^th of each month on our website. Full information can be found at www.cebarometer.eu