ACEC Research Institute Q1 2023 Engineering Business Sentiment Study: Industry Optimism Remains High
The ACEC Research Institute released last week the results of its Q1 2023 Engineering Business Sentiment Study. The report showed that optimism within the industry remains extremely high across the board, among all market sectors and within all geographic regions.
The results were unveiled in a webinar hosted by Institute Executive Director Daphne Bryant and Senior Research Consultant Joe Bates, who led the study. Bates pointed to the overall robust health of the industry, which has roared back from a COVID-driven 6.6 percent dip in output in 2020. “We rebounded very nicely in 2021,” said Bates, “and we surpassed the 2019 numbers, so we hit a new record.” The industry further built on those record-setting gains in 2022.
Those gains have fed the deep optimism within the industry, with sentiment improving in two-thirds of sectors over last quarter. Future sentiment also rose slightly and remains firmly in the positive column.
One metric of note: survey respondents also are feeling much more bullish about the U.S. economy than in previous quarters, with sentiment jumping back into positive territory from its low in the third quarter of 2022. Forty one percent of respondents feel positively about the condition of the U.S. economy, while 29 percent feel negatively. Thirty percent were neutral. Still, the 41 percent positive equals a Net Rating of +12 – up 12 points from last quarter, and a 27 point leap from its Q3 2022 low.