Mass. Business Confidence Rises Again
Confidence among Massachusetts businesses rose for the fourth consecutive month in February, reaching its highest point since last April, according to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM).
AIM's Business Confidence Index rose to 54.9 on a 100-point scale, a gain of nearly 4 percent over its January reading. After falling from a reading of 56.1 last April to 46.4 in October, the index has risen steadily. "This is beginning to look like a real pattern of improvement, coming back from the decline of mid-2011," said Raymond G. Torto, chief economist at CB Richard Ellis group and chairman of AIM's board of economic advisers.
Torto called the shift in business sentiment "primarily a matter of diminishing negatives. Massachusetts employers are more positive about conditions for their companies than about the state's business climate, and more positive about the state (economy) than about the national economy."
Torto said fears of a recession are receding, with 56 percent of surveyed businesses expecting "good" conditions for their companies within the next six months, while only 5 percent foresaw "bad" months ahead.
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