ARLINGTON, Va. — The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) released its Contractor Comfort Index (CCI) for April, which reached a 71, up from 65 in March. The 71 number is the highest tally in the CCI’s three-year history.

ACCA began measuring contractor attitudes toward short-term economic growth with the CCI in February 2010, and 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. The CCI in April 2012 was 68.