CE Barometer February 2015: Moderate improvement

Sentiment on the European construction sector edged up again in February, according to the latest CE Barometer survey. Following what looks like a seasonal winter lull in November and December, sentiment continued to recover in February, building on January’s improvement.

But although results improved compared to the last three months, some aspects of sentiment were still negative. For example, a balance of -1.4% of respondents said they were less busy in February, compared to January. Although this indicates a contraction in the amount of work, it was a better result than January (-9.5% balance), December (-16.9%) and November (-6.5%).

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

On a more positive note, sentiment about the future stayed strong. A positive balance of +29.6% of respondents said they expected to be busier in a year’s time than this month. Although this was down from the striking result of +44.2% in January, it was still very clearly in positive territory.

And respondents to the survey also said that they were busier in February than they were at the same time last year, with a balance of +5.6% of respondents saying this. But again, this was down from the January figure of +11.6%.

These results put the CE Climate, an overall measure of confidence, at +11.3%. This was down a little from January’s figure of +15.4%, but still comfortably in positive territory and above the figures seen in the final quarter of 2014.

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 1^st to the 15^th of each month on our website. Full information can be found at www.cebarometer.eu