March magic for European construction industry

The outlook for the European construction industry improved in March, and was close to January’s level, which is the highest seen so far this year.

A balance figure of +37% of survey respondents said activity levels in March were higher than in February. This was a ten-year high and was up from the figure of +1.1% seen in February, and is the highest figure seen in over a year.

The balance figure is the percentage of positive responses minus the percentage of negative responses.

Respondents continued to hold a strong outlook on the future, with a balance of +49.3% saying they expected activity to be higher in a year’s time than now. This was, however, down from +51.6% recorded in January, which was higher than any figure seen in 2016.

A balance of +38.4% of survey respondents said activity levels in March were better than a year previously. This compared to a lower balance last month of +12.1%.

The CE Climate figure was at its highest level in six years. Its balance was +41.6%, compared with the +17.9% seen in February.

Confidence about the future remains very high, continuing on a promising start to the year.

Take part

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 15thof each month on our website. Full information can be found at www.cebarometer.eu