CE Barometer March 2011: Recovery sustained

March saw the CE Barometer retain the gains it made from February, when sentiment bounced-back after tough winter conditions the traditional New Year break in activity.

A balance of +23,0% of respondents said they saw month-on-month activity improve in March, slight fall from February's +29,2%, but well clear of the -4,7% negative result in January. The balance figure being the percentage of positive respondents minus the negative percentage. This further reinforces the fact that January's was just a blip in an otherwise optimistic market.

The future outlook for the industry remained positive, with a balance of +42,9% of respondents saying they expected activity to be higher in a year's time. This result was about in line with January and February's figure, and this measure of confidence has been relatively stable around the +40% mark since late 2009.

As a result, the CE Climate - an amalgamation of three confidence measures - remained comfortably in positive territory at +31,2% - not quite as high as it was in February, but still on a par with the pre crisis levels seen in late 2007.

Take part

CE would like to thank all those that took part in the March 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