Informations Rapides · 27 July 2021 · n° 193

In July 2021, the opinion of the business managers in civil engineering on their past and expected activity has improved very sharply Quaterly survey of public works - July 2021

In July 2021, the business managers in civil engineering are much more positive about their activity, both recent and past, than they were last April.

In July 2021, much more business managers than in April have indicated an increase in their past activity over the last three months. The balance of opinion has risen sharply and has virtually returned to its level of January 2020, well above its long-term average.

In detail, the two balances of opinion about the past activity for public and private sector clients have increased sharply and stand well above their long-term average.

Similarly, considering the next three months, the opinion of business managers on their expected activity has improved markedly: the balance of opinion on expected activity has risen sharply for the third consecutive quarter. It stands well above its long-term average. In particular, this balance has risen strongly for public customers, while the one for private customers has risen a little more moderately. This two balances of opinion stand well above their long-term average.

In July 2021, more business managers than in April have considered that the level of their order book is higher than normal for the season: the corresponding balance of opinion has increased for the third consecutive quarter, although more slightly than in April. It stands above its long-term average, which it had slightly exceeded in April.

In July 2021, the production bottlenecks due to insufficient staff are much greater than in April. One in three companies has reported to be hampered by a lack of manpower. This proportion, higher than its long-term average (17%), remains however lower than its level before crisis (above 40%).

In July 2021, a little more business managers than in April have planned to increase their workforce size in the next three months. The corresponding balance has grown for the third consecutive quarter and stands well above its long-term average. However, it remains below its level before the onset of the health crisis.