Index: Employers in Central Mass. and statewide begin year with lower confidence
Photo | Timothy Doyle
Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce headquarters
Business confidence ticked lower for the second month in a row among businesses in Central Massachusetts and statewide in January, though index scores still indicate overall optimism.
The Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index, a joint indicator conducted by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, dropped from 52.8 to 52.5 in January, following a 4.4-point drop in December.
The statewide Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index fell 0.8 points to 53.2 in January, according to a press release from AIM on Monday. An index score greater than 50 signals optimism amongst employers.
The dip comes in spite of the Massachusetts economy growing at a 3.1% annual rate in 2022, and unemployment remaining low.
“The good news is that 12-month consumer price inflation moderated to 6.5 percent in December from a high of 9.1 percent in June 2022,” Sara Johnson, chair of the AIM Board of Economic Advisors, said in the press release.
“However, measures of core inflation (excluding food and energy) remain well above rates that are consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target. While the Fed slowed the pace of interest rate increases to just a quarter point last week, it signaled that further rate hikes are coming,” Johnson added.
The AIM Index, based on a survey of more than 140 Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98 and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009.
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