CE Barometer June 2009: Positive sentiment grows

Sentiment on the European construciton industry strengthened in June according to the results of the CE Barometer survey. Both current activity levels and expectations about the future increased compared to May's results.

A balance of +25,6% of respondents said they expected activity to be higher in a year's time, compared to now. It was the third month running that this measure of confidence has been positive, with the strength of the sentiment improving every time. In April the figure stood at +6,0%, while in May it was +19,3%.

A positive balance of +6,4% of respondents said activity was higher in June compared to May, an improvement on the marginal result of +0,6% seen the previous month.

The balance figures are calculated as the percentage of respondents giving positive responses, minus the number giving negative answers.

As a result of these two figures, the arrow of our clock again pointed to the ‘Boom' segment. With stronger sentiment about the future outlook, the arrow was longer than last month's result.

However, one measure of sentiment that is still firmly in negative territory is the level of activity compared to a year ago. A massive balance of -66,9% of respondents said they were busier in June 2008 than this month, and this measure of sentiment has been trongly negaitve all year.

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 28 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 http://www.cebarometer.eu/.