CE Barometer May 2009: Still positive

The results of May's CE Barometer survey showed industry sentiment about the future strengthen. Although current activity levels were flat with April, respondents were much more positive about the future.

A balance of +19,3% of respondents said they expected activity to be higher in a year's time, compared to now. It was the second month running that this measure of confidence has been positive, with a marked rise on April's result of +6,0%

A positive balance of +0,6% of respondents said activity was higher in may compared to March - hardly a strong indication, but positive none the less..

The balance figures are calculated as the percentage of respondents giving positive responses, minus the number giving negative answers. February was the tenth consecutive month of declines in current activity.

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.

It still remains to be seen whether this is a result of the traditional early summer spike in activity that is seen around this time of year, or whether it is the beginning of a genuine recovery. Month-on-month sentiment usually falls back as the summer progresses.

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/.