State's Business Confidence Turns Downward
Confidence among businesses in Massachusetts fell in September following a two-month recovery, according to Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a Boston-based business advocacy group.
AIM's Confidence Index fell 3.9 points to 51.3 on a 100-point scale, in which a reading higher than 50 indicates more optimism than pessimism among Bay State businesses. The index fell below 50 in June, then rose 8.4 points in July and August before falling last month.
"We have just been bumping along the road since the initial rebound from the depths of recession faded in mid-2010," said Raymond G. Torto, Global Chief Economist at CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc., the chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors (BEA). "This year, looking past month-to-month fluctuations, the quarterly averages run 54.2, 54.1, 52.6 – no progress at all, in fact a slow erosion."
"Employers continue to confront a great deal of uncertainty about the near-term economic future, with the elections and the 'fiscal cliff' of pending federal budget cuts and tax increases now probably more immediate concerns than the threat of a Eurozone financial meltdown," Torto added.
"At the same time, many are feeling the effects of current weakening in the economy, with slower growth nationally and here in Massachusetts, and outright recession in key export markets. Expectations of recession in the U.S. do not predominate, however."
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