CE Barometer January 2011: Seasonal dip

There were no surprises in January's CE Barometer survey, with harsh winter conditions in Northern Europe and the traditional New Year holiday seeing month-on-month construction activity take a dip.

There was a balance of -4.7% for this measure of activity - the balance figure being the percentage of positive respondents minus the negative percentage. It was the first time in a year that respondents to the survey said month-on-month activity had fallen.

But this is probably nothing to panic about. Results for January always show a slowdown, and they usually recover in February or March.

Indeed, comfort can be taken from the continued positive outlook for the future. A balance of +47,7% of respondents said they expected activity to be higher in a year's time, the strongest this measure of confidence has been since February 2010. Survey respondents also continue to report higher activity levels than a year ago.

As a result, the CE Climate - an amalgamation of all three confidence measures - remained well in positive territory at +23,7%. It has sat in this region since last spring, and has looked fairly stable throughout.

Take part

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