The ACCA’s Contractor Comfort Index decreased for the second consecutive month, dropping five points in January. The Air Conditioning Contractors of America began measuring contractor attitudes toward short-term economic growth with the CCI in February of last year. For January 2011, the CCI is 56, down from 61 in December 2010. Despite the decline, the index continues to show that contractors anticipate short-term growth.

In its first 12 months, the CCI increased 2 percent. The low during the first 12 months was 55 in February 2010 and the high was 69 in June 2010.

”We began the CCI a year ago to help us determine contractors’ attitudes towards short-term growth of their businesses and to get a feel for their confidence level in the industry,” said Kevin Holland, ACCA senior vice president of business operations and membership. “Now that we have 12 months of data, we can start comparing year over year, which will give us a better picture of how contractors feel about the industry and how they are adapting to the changes they are facing.”

The CCI is calculated based on a survey of the association’s contractor members, who are asked how positive they feel about new business prospects, existing business activity, and expected staffing decisions in the short-term future. Weighted and averaged into one number, a CCI of 50 or above reflects anticipated growth.