The enthusiasm that surged through the U.S. engineering industry following the election of Donald Trump has moderated, according the latest survey of engineering firm leaders by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).
The first quarter 2017 (Q1/17) of ACEC’s Engineering Business Index (EBI) dipped slightly (0.5 points) to 66.0. The decline is minimal and the score remains decidedly positive, but is in contrast to the 4th quarter 2016 EBI in which, fueled by Trump’s promises of lower taxes, infrastructure investment, and regulatory reform, the score jumped 5.1 points—the largest quarterly increase in the survey’s three-year history.
Now however, with the Administration slow to implement any of these polices, engineering firm leader confidence seems to have plateaued.
The EBI is a leading indicator of America’s economic health based on the business performance and projections of U.S. engineering firms that develop the nation’s transportation, water, energy and industrial infrastructure. The EBI is a diffusion index. The index mean is 50, with scores above 50 indicating business expansion, and scores below 50 indicating contraction. The Q1/17 survey was conducted March 23 to April 24 of 378 U.S. engineering firm leaders.
When comparing today’s market conditions to six months ago, the EBI score climbed 3.2 point to 66.8; while current backlog compared to six months ago was up a strong 5.1 points to 67.1. Additionally, short-term (six-month) expectations for profitability increased 3.5 points to 72.5 points.
Other EBI results however, clearly reflect engineering leader marketplace ambiguity. Market expectations for one year from today fell 2.6 points to 69.5; profitability expectations for the same period were flat (72.9); but looking out three years, expectations fell 2.4 points, and anticipated backlog fell 1.1 points to 70.4.
Concerns about long-term marketplace health resulted in significant declines in nine of the 12 primary public and private sector engineering markets.
For more information about the Q1/17 EBI, go to www.acec.org.
Related Stories
Architects | Nov 6, 2017
How to start a negotiation: Begin as you mean to continue
How you start a negotiation often will determine where you end up, writes negotiation and mediation expert Brenda Radmacher.
Giants 400 | Nov 3, 2017
Top 20 military engineering firms
Burns & McDonnell, AECOM, and Mason & Hanger Group top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest industrial sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Engineers | Nov 2, 2017
CannonDesign expands its presence in Colorado with BWG acquisition
Future mergers could be in the offing.
Industrial Facilities | Nov 1, 2017
Top 45 industrial engineering firms
AECOM, Fluor, and CRB top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest industrial sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 30, 2017
Top 45 green engineering firms
WSP, AECOM, and Arup top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest green sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 20, 2017
Top 20 sports engineering firms
WSP, Walter P Moore, and ME Engineers top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest sports sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 19, 2017
Race for talent drives office designs
Is the shift toward attracting younger workers too much or not enough?
Giants 400 | Oct 17, 2017
Top 60 office engineering firms
AECOM, WSP, and Thornton Tomasetti top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest office sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 16, 2017
Data center market forecast: Clearly cloudy
Look for mission-critical construction to double in the next few years.
Giants 400 | Oct 12, 2017
Top 30 data center engineering firms
Syska Hennessy Group, AECOM, and Morrison Hershfield top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest data center sector engineering and EA firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.