Central Mass. business confidence falls, remains optimistic
Photo | Timothy Doyle
Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce headquarters
The cracks in the confidence of the economy have begun to show thanks to continued inflation, rising interest rates and a slowing economic output. While a demand for workers continues, Central Massachusetts businesses are starting to feel the stress – or at least are planning for it.
According to the Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index released on Tuesday, conducted with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, confidence in the economy dropped 4.4 points from 57.7 to 53.3 in September, which is still better than the state average, which dipped 1.4 points from 55.3 to 53.9.
The Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index is an offshoot of the state Business Confidence Index released monthly by the trade group Associated Industries of Massachusetts. The overall score is on a scale of 0-100, where any score over 50 means businesses have an optimistic outlook on the economy.
While inflation continues to be an issue, the rising costs of borrowing money has also not stopped. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third consecutive time by 0.75% on September 21.
“Companies remain concerned about inflation, the cost of borrowing and the potential for a recession, but their primary concern remains finding the employees they need to enable growth and maintain operations. Many businesses have been able to increase product prices to compensate for rising costs and have thus sustained or increased their payrolls,” Sara Johnson, chair of the AIM board of economic advisors said in a release about the confidence index on Tuesday.
The September survey included more than 140 Massachusetts employers.
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