Chart | Courtesy of Associated Industries of Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Business Confidence index sat at 53.3 in May.
June 13, 2024
Central Mass. business confidence rebounds, following previous low in April
Photo | TMS Aerial Solutions
Downtown Worcester
Confidence among Central Massachusetts employers rebounded during May, following a nearly all-time low in April.
The Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index, rose from 45.9 in April to 50.6, according to a press release from trade group Associated Industries of Massachusetts on Thursday.
April’s score of 45.9 was the second lowest the monthly index had been since AIM launched the regional version of its statewide business confidence index in November 2021.
Scored on a 100-point scale, an index number above 50 represents an optimistic outlook, while a number below 50 represents a pessimistic outlook.
For May, the statewide business confidence index increased, gaining 1.4 points to a 53.3 score and ending a two-month slide. The index remained within optimistic territory and was 3.7 points higher than in May 2023.
In other regions across the state, the Western Massachusetts Business Confidence Index declined from 48.4 to 44.8, and the North Shore Confidence Index remained in optimistic territory at 55.7.
Overall, survey participants reported stable business conditions despite inflation, high interest rates, and slowing growth.
The report showed a significant confidence gap between manufacturing companies, which scored 46.0, and non-manufacturing enterprises, which scored 54.7. Large companies were more optimistic than midsize or small companies.
Despite the increase of business confidence, the housing crisis is still a pressing issue in the state.
“This historic investment will help reduce the prohibitive cost of housing in the state, which is the number one issue for our members and the business community at-large right now,” AIM President and CEO Brooke Thomson said in the press release. “We have a supply problem, and the only solution is to build our way out and provide access to thousands of new homes for our workers.”
Companies in the survey said the soaring cost of housing in the state is driving away valuable employees, said Barry Bluestone, retired professor of public policy and urban affairs at Northeastern University in Boston.
“The fact that Gov. Maura Healey and the Massachusetts House of Representatives have put forward proposals to increase the supply of housing in the Commonwealth is a good sign that elected officials are determined to address this important economic issue,” Bluestone said in the Thursday press release.
The AIM index, based on a survey of more than 140 Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since 1991.
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