Over the past two years, construction industry executives have observed that, after the 2007-10 recession, the market’s long recovery seemed to be running out of steam. But the unexpected election of Donald Trump last month has caused a surge in optimism that the recovery has not peaked and still may have legs.
The ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index rose sharply for the fourth quarter. It shows that, of the 213 executives of large construction and design firms responding to the survey, most believe market growth will continue through the end of 2017. The CICI index was 68 on a scale of 100, up 10 points from the third quarter.