Bay State Biz Confidence Bounces Back In March
The Associated Industries of Massachusetts reported that its Business Confidence Index gained 2.8 points in March to reach 54.0. That number is up 7.2 points from the same time a year earlier.
But what was more telling, said AIM Board of Economic Advisors Chairman Raymond Torto, was that 52 percent of employers in March reported experiencing difficulty filling open positions, despite an unemployment rate of 8 to 9 percent.
Employers told AIM that the biggest hurdle to making new hires was a lack of people with required relevant skills, even among applicants with the necessary technical skills.
Some employers blamed unemployment insurance as a deterrent to skilled people returning to the workforce. Others blamed a lack of training resources for new hires.
AIM's sub-measures of performance all made gains in March along with the main index. The current index, which measures overall conditions at the time of the survey, rebounded 10.2 points in March to 57.7.
The current index had dropped to 47.5 points in February, the first time it had dipped below 50 in five months.
The AIM Business Confidence Index is based on a survey of AIM members. It is based on a 100-point scale, with a reading above 50 indicating a positive outlook and a reading below 50 indicating a negative outlook.
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