2020 CIRT Sentiment Index: First Quarter Report
The first quarter of 2020 showed an increase in both the CIRT Sentiment Index and Design Index. The CIRT Sentiment Index grew from 57.6 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 63.6 in the first quarter of 2020. Higher index scores suggest broadened optimism across participating firms going into 2020.
This quarter’s current issues questions polled CIRT membership on a variety of key internal metrics, including backlogs, firm capacity and hiring goals. The survey also captured open responses on challenges facing each firm in 2020.
Among the segments and industries represented by CIRT’s member base, health care is projected to experience the most short-term growth across the broader construction industry, whereas industrial, transportation and manufacturing are all expected to exhibit healthy growth over the long term. Secondary segments that all stand out over the next year include health care, public works and education. Design respondents expect health care, pre-design and transportation to outperform over the next quarter and foresee long-term opportunities in transportation, industrial and health care.
Overall, respondents believe that the industrial, manufacturing and transportation construction sectors will show the most promise long-term. Public works will remain steady, and office, lodging and commercial will start to decline over the next year. Within the design industry, respondents believe that international, commercial, education and consulting planning will decline; residential will remain stable; and heavy/civil will experience growth over the long term.
