Economic outlook for construction market upbeat in August

In August this year, just as in July, the overall economic climate in the construction industry was positive, soliciting the best assessments since August 1993.

In August this year, just as in July, the overall economic climate in the construction industry was positive, soliciting the best assessments since August 1993.

The bright outlook is due to companies’ continuing optimism with regard to their current order portfolios, construction-assembly output and financial situation, GUS reported.

Forty-two percent of the surveyed enterprises said that their situation had improved, while 5% claimed it had deteriorated. The remaining enterprises reported no change in their situation.
Predictions for the next three months with regard to order portfolios and output are still very promising, although more cautious than prognoses provided in July. As a consequence, we should expect slightly slower employment growth in the sector.

The current financial performance of construction-assembly enterprises continues to improve. Forecasts regarding their future finances are very good, although a little more cautious than a last month.

Building firms expect prices of construction-assembly work to increase in the coming three months at a slightly faster rate than was suggested in prognoses from July.

Similarly to the last few months, businesses believe that the greatest barrier to growth is posed by competition from other companies. Labour costs are seen as the second biggest obstacle. In comparison with August last year, of all the perceived barriers to growth, insufficient demand has declined the most in importance, while the shortage of skilled and qualified staff has increased sharply in this respect.