The Index is holding steady, but contractors are becoming more uncertain about the future state of the economy. BlueTarp's supplemental contractor survey revealed that nearly 25% of contractors thought the economy would decline in some way within the next 12 months, an increase from 16.3% last quarter. Respondents cited the 2020 election as one of the causes of greater uncertainty.

CEO, Scott Simpson says “Just like the macro drivers, contractor sentiment is strong overall but increasingly jittery. The escalation, of US-China trade tensions, suggests a real threat to continued economic expansion. We’ll see more pronounced pessimism in next quarter’s survey if this continues or escalates even further. The 2020 election cycle introduces yet another variable, too.”

The Index is a weighted composite of proprietary BlueTarp spending and delinquency data as well as three macro-economic factors: building permits, construction spend and consumer confidence.

Check out the full Index here.