CE Barometer January 2010: Winter slowdown

With an unusually cold winter affecting many parts of Northern Europe, it is perhaps unsurprising that month-to-month construction activity fell in January. A negative balance of -9,5% of respondents to January's survey said activity fell compared to December.

Although this was disappointing, following four months of increasing activity at the end of 2009, it was also to be expected. The seasonal pattern of the CE Barometer shows that monthly activity is usually lower in January than December due to the seasonal nature of the construction industry.

Sentiment about the future outlook remained positive, with +41,1% of respondents saying they thought business would pick up in a year's time. The figure was almost unchanged from the result in December, still indicating the most positive future sentiment since late 2007.

As a result of these figures, the arrow of our clock pointed to the ‘Upturn' segment, indicating a weak current month but brighter future prospects. The arrow length, which indicates the strength of the sentiment, was unchanged from December..

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 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 www.cebarometer.eu