Informations rapides
27 May 2020
2020- n° 129
In May 2020, the business managers in building are making a very degraded assessment of their recent activity Monthly survey of building - May 2020

A vast majority of the business managers in building surveyed in May 2020 have reported that their activity decreased during the past three months.

Informations rapides
No 129
Paru le :Paru le27/05/2020
Prochaine parution le : 24/10/2024 at 08:45 - October 2024
Warning

Due to the context of the fight against the propagation of COVID-19, statistics published in this Informations Rapides issue could be less accurate than usual. Companies’ responses were collected between 28 April and 19 May 2020, to a large extent during general lockdown, and solely online. Consequently, the response rate is lower this month than usual.

In addition, for the data for April and May, the method to correct non-response has been modified compared to the usual method which reproduces past responses from non-responding companies. We have considered that the non-responding units in April or May would have responded as the average of the responding units of the elementary stratum to which they belong. This may cause substantial downward revisions from the April data previously sent last month.

As the response rate was particularly low in the building construction industry survey, the results presented in this Informations Rapides are condensed.

A vast majority of the business managers in building surveyed in May 2020 have reported that their activity decreased during the past three months.

Business managers are very negative about their past activity but are less pessimist than in April about their upcoming activity

In May 2020, business managers are much more negative than in the previous month on their past activity: the corresponding balance has fallen strongly, and stands now at the lowest level since the beginning of the series (1975).

Nevertheless, for the next three months, business managers are less pessimist regarding their activity prospects : the balance of opinion on expected activity has recovered sharply after a very steep fall in April. However, it stands significantly below his average

Building industry economic outlook

Balances of opinion, in %, SA
Building industry economic outlook (Balances of opinion, in %, SA)
Mean* Feb. 20 Mar. 20 Apr. 20 May 20
Past activity -3 12 18 -22 -79
Expected activity -5 16 7 -86 -47
General business outlook -16 -90
Past employment -5 9 7 0 -17
Expected employment -3 20 12 -17 -18
Opinion on order books -22 1 0 -26 -31
Order books (in month) 6 8 8 7 7
Expected prices -13 6 2 -17 -11
Cash-flow position -10 -36
Payment period 30 44
  • *Mean since April 1975 for the composite indicator and since September 1993 for the balances of opinion.
  • Source: INSEE, French business survey in the building industry

Activity tendency in building construction

Activity tendency in building construction
Expected activity Past activity
1998-01 -4.4 -3.8
1998-02 -5.1 0.7
1998-03 0.0 5.6
1998-04 -3.6 2.7
1998-05 0.9 7.8
1998-06 3.8 13.6
1998-07 3.9 16.8
1998-08 5.9 18.3
1998-09 7.4 19.7
1998-10 4.5 13.5
1998-11 -0.4 16.0
1998-12 -9.7 3.1
1999-01 -0.4 18.0
1999-02 3.5 12.1
1999-03 5.3 15.2
1999-04 9.0 19.6
1999-05 22.6 18.4
1999-06 14.6 17.9
1999-07 16.9 23.3
1999-08 17.4 24.2
1999-09 17.6 24.8
1999-10 14.3 29.1
1999-11 17.8 28.0
1999-12 33.1 32.4
2000-01 32.4 34.8
2000-02 23.1 33.6
2000-03 26.9 34.9
2000-04 29.9 44.1
2000-05 26.1 35.1
2000-06 31.5 34.8
2000-07 31.9 40.5
2000-08 32.2 40.4
2000-09 32.4 40.4
2000-10 34.3 40.1
2000-11 29.3 40.1
2000-12 24.9 33.2
2001-01 7.8 34.8
2001-02 9.0 34.7
2001-03 12.1 30.4
2001-04 7.7 17.0
2001-05 2.9 19.3
2001-06 0.5 14.1
2001-07 -2.4 12.0
2001-08 -3.7 7.0
2001-09 -5.3 2.5
2001-10 -5.4 1.8
2001-11 -4.5 -3.1
2001-12 -7.9 -1.7
2002-01 -4.2 -6.4
2002-02 -4.7 -3.1
2002-03 -3.7 -0.7
2002-04 -11.1 -7.5
2002-05 -2.8 -0.2
2002-06 -1.3 -0.4
2002-07 -6.4 -11.3
2002-08 -11.3 -11.0
2002-09 -16.4 -9.6
2002-10 -19.1 -11.5
2002-11 -19.7 -15.5
2002-12 -18.2 -19.5
2003-01 -23.3 -13.3
2003-02 -21.1 -15.2
2003-03 -23.7 -18.4
2003-04 -21.8 -15.5
2003-05 -18.0 -16.9
2003-06 -17.4 -15.7
2003-07 -14.3 -16.1
2003-08 -9.7 -10.4
2003-09 -5.5 -3.6
2003-10 -5.2 -13.3
2003-11 -0.1 -9.6
2003-12 1.8 -5.3
2004-01 15.6 -1.3
2004-02 5.5 1.3
2004-03 8.7 3.1
2004-04 5.9 6.1
2004-05 2.6 6.3
2004-06 2.0 5.9
2004-07 10.9 6.9
2004-08 11.9 6.3
2004-09 12.3 6.9
2004-10 12.0 8.7
2004-11 11.7 13.4
2004-12 11.7 12.2
2005-01 11.6 11.1
2005-02 9.0 11.6
2005-03 13.2 8.3
2005-04 13.6 9.7
2005-05 12.6 9.2
2005-06 16.4 12.7
2005-07 14.8 15.4
2005-08 13.9 14.6
2005-09 12.9 15.3
2005-10 18.4 18.0
2005-11 22.9 19.3
2005-12 19.7 20.2
2006-01 20.2 20.5
2006-02 20.1 13.5
2006-03 16.5 17.5
2006-04 16.2 20.1
2006-05 17.5 21.0
2006-06 14.2 21.4
2006-07 16.7 21.2
2006-08 17.0 20.6
2006-09 18.3 22.6
2006-10 21.1 22.9
2006-11 23.3 20.6
2006-12 20.3 22.1
2007-01 21.4 20.2
2007-02 18.9 19.8
2007-03 18.2 22.5
2007-04 21.0 24.1
2007-05 21.1 22.4
2007-06 21.0 25.0
2007-07 18.9 25.0
2007-08 17.7 20.7
2007-09 18.8 20.6
2007-10 15.9 19.6
2007-11 13.5 21.5
2007-12 16.7 19.2
2008-01 7.7 18.7
2008-02 15.3 18.0
2008-03 17.9 15.6
2008-04 10.0 16.3
2008-05 10.8 9.6
2008-06 -4.3 5.0
2008-07 -6.2 -0.3
2008-08 -5.4 0.3
2008-09 -10.0 -0.9
2008-10 -33.4 -10.6
2008-11 -36.3 -11.4
2008-12 -30.7 -21.0
2009-01 -34.8 -19.6
2009-02 -46.6 -25.8
2009-03 -36.5 -24.3
2009-04 -35.8 -30.0
2009-05 -33.3 -29.2
2009-06 -33.7 -33.1
2009-07 -32.5 -33.3
2009-08 -27.3 -31.2
2009-09 -25.0 -28.3
2009-10 -21.4 -25.0
2009-11 -20.4 -26.2
2009-12 -20.0 -26.5
2010-01 -19.7 -26.6
2010-02 -18.2 -23.7
2010-03 -17.8 -26.1
2010-04 -17.4 -25.4
2010-05 -16.9 -20.7
2010-06 -15.2 -17.6
2010-07 -12.4 -14.0
2010-08 -10.8 -12.6
2010-09 -13.0 -13.1
2010-10 -4.4 -13.1
2010-11 -0.6 -12.9
2010-12 -0.8 -7.9
2011-01 -0.8 -8.4
2011-02 3.3 -3.7
2011-03 3.0 1.7
2011-04 5.3 8.3
2011-05 2.4 6.0
2011-06 4.4 6.2
2011-07 4.3 8.3
2011-08 0.6 1.6
2011-09 -4.4 -0.6
2011-10 -4.9 -2.2
2011-11 -9.8 -4.4
2011-12 -11.5 -4.5
2012-01 -10.5 -1.6
2012-02 -12.3 -3.6
2012-03 -10.5 -5.5
2012-04 -11.9 -8.7
2012-05 -14.7 -13.5
2012-06 -14.0 -13.6
2012-07 -17.2 -15.0
2012-08 -19.3 -15.1
2012-09 -20.3 -15.0
2012-10 -26.0 -18.3
2012-11 -24.5 -21.3
2012-12 -21.9 -20.6
2013-01 -24.3 -21.6
2013-02 -22.0 -23.1
2013-03 -24.3 -23.8
2013-04 -24.6 -28.2
2013-05 -21.3 -26.8
2013-06 -24.0 -26.6
2013-07 -22.6 -22.2
2013-08 -19.7 -16.6
2013-09 -12.3 -13.2
2013-10 -15.6 -13.3
2013-11 -16.5 -13.0
2013-12 -18.6 -20.2
2014-01 -15.6 -20.7
2014-02 -20.6 -17.2
2014-03 -18.6 -17.2
2014-04 -22.4 -17.5
2014-05 -19.5 -19.0
2014-06 -17.6 -18.3
2014-07 -28.1 -18.2
2014-08 -27.3 -25.3
2014-09 -29.9 -29.8
2014-10 -29.9 -31.7
2014-11 -24.9 -25.2
2014-12 -28.0 -23.1
2015-01 -32.8 -23.1
2015-02 -23.7 -30.1
2015-03 -24.4 -27.5
2015-04 -23.9 -20.8
2015-05 -26.4 -21.6
2015-06 -20.4 -20.0
2015-07 -16.4 -22.1
2015-08 -8.6 -18.6
2015-09 -13.2 -16.9
2015-10 -15.2 -14.3
2015-11 -20.9 -15.2
2015-12 -8.1 -11.6
2016-01 -8.3 -14.7
2016-02 -16.1 -15.0
2016-03 -9.3 -14.0
2016-04 -5.0 -13.4
2016-05 -2.0 -8.1
2016-06 -2.5 -8.9
2016-07 -0.3 -9.6
2016-08 -3.2 -7.5
2016-09 0.6 -5.9
2016-10 3.7 0.0
2016-11 1.2 0.8
2016-12 -1.1 -5.6
2017-01 -2.8 5.4
2017-02 -0.4 -1.3
2017-03 2.8 -1.7
2017-04 5.9 -6.6
2017-05 2.0 4.4
2017-06 3.6 10.7
2017-07 11.1 5.4
2017-08 13.4 1.3
2017-09 9.1 9.5
2017-10 8.5 5.8
2017-11 14.0 9.7
2017-12 14.3 13.2
2018-01 13.3 14.2
2018-02 11.2 13.9
2018-03 11.8 13.2
2018-04 13.2 10.6
2018-05 12.9 5.8
2018-06 12.7 4.5
2018-07 6.4 8.8
2018-08 4.2 8.3
2018-09 9.7 3.8
2018-10 10.5 4.6
2018-11 10.3 3.8
2018-12 11.8 6.5
2019-01 15.2 6.4
2019-02 15.6 10.1
2019-03 14.5 11.8
2019-04 11.9 11.4
2019-05 13.1 5.6
2019-06 15.2 9.0
2019-07 9.3 14.1
2019-08 10.3 9.2
2019-09 12.8 14.1
2019-10 17.2 14.0
2019-11 8.5 11.5
2019-12 10.2 8.4
2020-01 10.3 7.9
2020-02 15.9 11.7
2020-03 7.5 18.4
2020-04 -85.5 -21.6
2020-05 -47.4 -79.4

Activity tendency in building construction

  • Source : INSEE

The opinion of business managers on past trend in employment has deteriorated strongly

In May 2020, more business managers than in April have reported that they had decreased their staff size in the last three months: the corresponding balance of opinion has fallen to its lowest level since October 2016.

Moreover, the employment prospects for the next three months are deemed as deteriorated as in April: the balance of opinion on expected employment development is at his lowest level since April 2016, far below its average.

Workforce size tendency in building construction

Workforce size tendency in building construction
Expected workforce size Past workforce size
1998-01 -14.3 -15.6
1998-02 -16.3 -14.7
1998-03 -10.2 -13.3
1998-04 -10.4 -11.4
1998-05 -8.4 -6.7
1998-06 -9.3 -5.4
1998-07 -4.2 -2.4
1998-08 -3.9 -0.9
1998-09 -3.9 1.0
1998-10 -7.3 -2.0
1998-11 -8.2 -0.6
1998-12 -7.5 -0.2
1999-01 -7.9 -1.8
1999-02 -2.3 1.1
1999-03 -3.7 3.3
1999-04 -2.2 2.1
1999-05 6.8 0.0
1999-06 8.8 -0.6
1999-07 12.5 7.9
1999-08 12.9 12.0
1999-09 13.0 16.4
1999-10 15.6 16.7
1999-11 18.3 14.6
1999-12 19.6 20.6
2000-01 22.7 19.2
2000-02 19.5 19.2
2000-03 22.9 16.3
2000-04 21.9 28.9
2000-05 14.2 23.7
2000-06 23.8 24.0
2000-07 23.2 28.1
2000-08 26.4 27.0
2000-09 29.5 26.3
2000-10 35.3 28.7
2000-11 27.7 29.0
2000-12 25.1 26.2
2001-01 20.6 21.3
2001-02 17.4 24.1
2001-03 12.8 19.3
2001-04 12.4 12.2
2001-05 13.0 14.5
2001-06 11.2 13.1
2001-07 11.9 7.6
2001-08 9.1 6.5
2001-09 6.2 5.6
2001-10 5.5 2.1
2001-11 6.5 4.2
2001-12 7.4 1.5
2002-01 8.6 3.3
2002-02 9.4 1.8
2002-03 9.4 2.8
2002-04 6.3 -0.9
2002-05 5.3 -0.6
2002-06 5.6 -1.3
2002-07 0.6 -1.2
2002-08 -1.3 -2.5
2002-09 -3.2 -3.6
2002-10 10.0 -3.0
2002-11 -5.7 -2.7
2002-12 -4.9 -2.6
2003-01 -1.3 0.3
2003-02 -2.2 1.7
2003-03 -3.7 -2.5
2003-04 -1.5 4.5
2003-05 -2.6 -0.6
2003-06 -1.0 -0.8
2003-07 0.9 0.0
2003-08 2.7 1.2
2003-09 4.5 2.3
2003-10 5.0 -0.7
2003-11 8.4 6.2
2003-12 12.4 6.6
2004-01 12.5 6.8
2004-02 2.3 2.3
2004-03 3.3 2.1
2004-04 8.2 7.8
2004-05 6.9 3.4
2004-06 5.0 0.0
2004-07 5.2 1.6
2004-08 6.7 0.4
2004-09 8.4 -1.0
2004-10 7.4 -0.4
2004-11 10.9 -0.4
2004-12 11.7 1.4
2005-01 9.2 0.7
2005-02 9.5 0.1
2005-03 12.5 5.5
2005-04 15.2 6.9
2005-05 14.2 6.7
2005-06 14.0 8.1
2005-07 16.9 3.9
2005-08 15.2 6.0
2005-09 13.7 7.9
2005-10 15.9 9.7
2005-11 19.6 11.5
2005-12 17.0 12.7
2006-01 18.4 18.9
2006-02 20.2 19.9
2006-03 19.3 13.3
2006-04 18.2 16.0
2006-05 20.5 18.2
2006-06 21.8 17.9
2006-07 20.3 20.4
2006-08 22.2 21.1
2006-09 24.4 21.7
2006-10 26.1 21.6
2006-11 23.8 19.8
2006-12 26.3 18.5
2007-01 27.0 19.2
2007-02 25.3 21.4
2007-03 24.6 20.5
2007-04 22.9 20.6
2007-05 25.5 20.2
2007-06 28.6 23.4
2007-07 25.4 21.6
2007-08 24.6 21.8
2007-09 24.2 22.1
2007-10 23.1 16.6
2007-11 26.7 21.7
2007-12 21.5 21.0
2008-01 19.9 22.6
2008-02 15.9 21.4
2008-03 22.3 23.0
2008-04 23.0 21.1
2008-05 15.5 13.0
2008-06 13.8 13.6
2008-07 11.9 13.4
2008-08 9.5 9.3
2008-09 4.8 5.9
2008-10 -1.4 5.8
2008-11 -8.7 -0.9
2008-12 -12.5 -2.3
2009-01 -16.9 -8.7
2009-02 -17.9 -8.2
2009-03 -22.4 -12.8
2009-04 -20.9 -18.4
2009-05 -20.2 -17.9
2009-06 -20.1 -17.9
2009-07 -20.3 -20.7
2009-08 -19.0 -19.2
2009-09 -17.0 -19.1
2009-10 -15.9 -19.3
2009-11 -15.3 -18.9
2009-12 -14.5 -18.8
2010-01 -12.8 -18.3
2010-02 -15.8 -17.2
2010-03 -13.1 -16.8
2010-04 -14.0 -16.5
2010-05 -14.6 -13.9
2010-06 -15.4 -15.8
2010-07 -13.4 -10.7
2010-08 -11.3 -12.0
2010-09 -7.7 -10.9
2010-10 -7.7 -12.1
2010-11 -3.8 -7.6
2010-12 -1.7 -4.4
2011-01 -1.3 -4.2
2011-02 3.1 -5.1
2011-03 3.6 -3.1
2011-04 4.9 0.3
2011-05 7.3 -0.3
2011-06 6.8 3.2
2011-07 7.7 3.4
2011-08 3.4 3.8
2011-09 -0.8 2.8
2011-10 -6.2 -2.4
2011-11 -7.4 -8.8
2011-12 -5.3 -6.4
2012-01 -3.7 -4.2
2012-02 -3.9 -5.6
2012-03 -9.0 -6.8
2012-04 -9.2 -8.4
2012-05 -12.6 -9.1
2012-06 -11.3 -7.7
2012-07 -15.3 -11.8
2012-08 -14.7 -11.1
2012-09 -16.7 -15.7
2012-10 -14.7 -10.3
2012-11 -14.9 -10.9
2012-12 -16.2 -13.3
2013-01 -15.6 -14.4
2013-02 -15.8 -17.2
2013-03 -18.0 -17.8
2013-04 -13.5 -13.7
2013-05 -19.0 -16.3
2013-06 -18.2 -18.6
2013-07 -17.9 -18.1
2013-08 -16.0 -19.7
2013-09 -14.8 -18.3
2013-10 -10.5 -13.7
2013-11 -16.6 -18.3
2013-12 -17.7 -16.6
2014-01 -19.5 -18.9
2014-02 -21.1 -19.9
2014-03 -18.4 -18.6
2014-04 -19.3 -22.2
2014-05 -19.2 -15.6
2014-06 -23.3 -26.6
2014-07 -22.1 -25.4
2014-08 -26.9 -26.5
2014-09 -28.2 -28.6
2014-10 -26.1 -28.8
2014-11 -22.5 -25.0
2014-12 -24.4 -25.8
2015-01 -29.5 -29.2
2015-02 -24.3 -25.1
2015-03 -25.2 -26.5
2015-04 -27.3 -34.0
2015-05 -27.2 -30.1
2015-06 -19.9 -26.5
2015-07 -24.7 -28.6
2015-08 -23.2 -24.9
2015-09 -22.1 -24.8
2015-10 -23.5 -26.7
2015-11 -21.3 -28.8
2015-12 -23.4 -27.6
2016-01 -20.3 -24.3
2016-02 -20.4 -26.0
2016-03 -20.2 -26.9
2016-04 -17.7 -23.1
2016-05 -15.8 -24.0
2016-06 -16.6 -23.9
2016-07 -17.5 -21.0
2016-08 -13.5 -20.7
2016-09 -10.5 -18.5
2016-10 -8.8 -17.4
2016-11 -11.1 -15.5
2016-12 -8.6 -15.7
2017-01 -7.1 -13.5
2017-02 -7.4 -13.2
2017-03 -6.2 -10.9
2017-04 -4.9 -15.2
2017-05 -0.9 -7.7
2017-06 2.1 -6.6
2017-07 3.7 -2.6
2017-08 1.6 -7.4
2017-09 1.9 -7.0
2017-10 3.5 -5.1
2017-11 1.9 -6.6
2017-12 11.7 6.4
2018-01 9.1 -0.3
2018-02 6.6 -4.4
2018-03 13.4 1.2
2018-04 11.8 3.9
2018-05 10.0 7.4
2018-06 9.8 3.8
2018-07 13.7 4.1
2018-08 14.1 3.8
2018-09 14.7 4.3
2018-10 8.8 5.0
2018-11 14.2 8.3
2018-12 13.8 4.5
2019-01 6.6 3.2
2019-02 18.0 6.3
2019-03 12.8 6.1
2019-04 13.7 4.0
2019-05 13.6 6.8
2019-06 9.0 4.1
2019-07 5.6 3.9
2019-08 9.7 6.2
2019-09 13.0 4.3
2019-10 10.6 5.9
2019-11 16.5 4.0
2019-12 13.2 4.4
2020-01 15.2 8.3
2020-02 19.8 8.7
2020-03 12.2 7.2
2020-04 -17.3 0.4
2020-05 -17.6 -16.5

Workforce size tendency in building construction

  • Source : INSEE

Significantly fewer business managers deem their order book well filled

In May 2020, more business managers than in the previous month have considered that their order books are lower than normal: the corresponding balance of opinion, already well below its average, has fallen again and has reached its lowest level since March 2017.

However, given their present staff size, business managers consider that their order books provide 7.4 months of work, slightly more than last month and significantly more than the long-term average (5.7 months).

Revisions

Most of the April balances of opinion have been revised downwards compared to the provisional values published last month. These revisions are mainly explained by the change in methodology to correct non-response (see Warning).

For further information

A balance of opinion is calculated as the difference between the percentage of “increase” responses and the percentage of “decrease” responses.

Additional information (simplified and detailed methodology, nomenclature, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab of the web page of this publication.

Next issue: 24 June 2020 at 8:45 am

Pour en savoir plus

A balance of opinion is calculated as the difference between the percentage of “increase” responses and the percentage of “decrease” responses.

Additional information (simplified and detailed methodology, nomenclature, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab of the web page of this publication.

Next issue: 24 June 2020 at 8:45 am

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr
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