CE Barometer January 2009: Future improvement?

Sentiment on the European construction industry stayed depressed in January, although there was a notable swing towards an upturn. The strength of gloomy sentiment was also a little weaker than in previous months.

A balance of 36.9% of respondents said activity fell month-to-month compared to December - about in line with the previous month's results. The figure is calculated as the percentage of respondents giving positive responses, minus the number giving negative answers. December was the seventh consecutive month of declines in current activity.

However, there was a marked improvement in future sentiment, with a balance of -9,9% being recorded. Although still negative, this was a marked improvement on results throughout the third quarter of 2008, and as a result, the arrow of CE's barometer swung towards the upswing segment.

More striking in a different sense was the result that a balance of -64,3% of respondents said activity was lower in January 2009 than a year previously. This gives an indication of how widespread the downturn has been over the last 12 months. Another interesting point is that back in January 2008, sentiment was strong - a balance of +37,0% of respondents said they thought activity would be higher in 12 months' time - now - which gives some indication of how unexpected and severe the downturn has been.

Take part

CE would like to thank all those that took part in the December survey. It was completed by more than 300 construction professionals in 26 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 www.cebarometer.eu.