Mass. business confidence remained pessimistic in June amid tariffs, Big Beautiful Bill concerns
Image I Courtesy of Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Massachusetts' Business Confidence Index remained in pessimistic territory in June.
Business confidence in Massachusetts inched upward in June, yet remained in pessimistic territory for the fourth month in a row.
The state’s Business Confidence Index rose 1.1 points last month to 48.9 as employers expressed apprehension over tariffs, tax policy, and conflict in the Middle East, according to a Monday press release from the trade group Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which compiles the index.
Following May’s 6.3-point rebound in confidence, June’s growth rounded out a 7.4-point increase from April when the state’s BCI sat at 41.5, the lowest score Massachusetts had experienced since the end of the Great Recession in 2009.
The AIM index pulls from a survey of more than 140 Massachusetts employers and is scored on a 100-point scale; a score of above 50 represents an optimistic outlook and a score below 50 represents a pessimistic outlook.
June’s BCI was 0.1 points higher than in June 2024.
The state’s rise in business confidence came in tandem with the nation’s financial market rebound and a moderate inflation rate, and the addition of 147,000 jobs throughout the country according to the release.
“The June Business Confidence Index reveals that employer attitudes about the private sector – the prospects for their own companies, employment and the manufacturing sector – are far stronger than views of the state and national economies,” Sara Johnson, chair of the AIM Board of Economic Advisors, which oversees the BCI, said in the release.
At the same time, Johnson said employers are worried about the President Donald Trump Administration’s ability to come to tariff agreements with core trading countries.
Thus, while dipping only slightly, the confidence Massachusetts employers had in the U.S. economy was the only index of the eight indicators analyzed by AIM to slip in June, stepping down 0.1 points to score of 41.3, by far the lowest-scoring indicator.
June’s BCI survey was conducted before President Trump signed his administration's Big Beautiful Bill this past Friday, which includes drastic cuts to Medicaid funding.
“Employers support many of the tax provisions in the bill but remain concerned about budget reductions in the area of health care and research that could significantly affect the Massachusetts economy,” Elmore Alexander, dean emeritus at Bridgewater State University and a BEA member, said in the release.
Scoring a confidence index of 51.2, medium-sized companies were more optimistic in June than their large and small counterparts, which scored in pessimistic territory at 49.6 and 45.6, respectively.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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