Contractors are feeling more confident about short-term growth, according to the ACCA. The Air Conditioning Contractors of America released its Contractor Comfort Index for October, which measures contractor attitudes toward short-term economic growth. The ACCA has been conducting the contractor survey since February 2010.

For October 2012, the CCI is 60. The CCI also shows that contractors are feeling about the same as, or slightly better than, they were 12 months earlier when the CCI was 58.

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.