Mass. business confidence rises again
Businesses in Massachusetts continued to gain confidence in business conditions in November, according to the results of a monthly survey by Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM).
AIM's business confidence index rose 1.9 points in November, to 56.8 on a scale of 1 to 100 (50 is neutral) for a gain of 6.6 points through the first 11 months of the year.
“This reading is close to the index’s post-recession high of 57.1 reached in April 2012,” Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors (BEA), said in a statement. “We continue to see a trend of modest, fairly steady gain in business confidence.”
The index is based on a survey of Bay State employers. The Massachusetts Index, which assess conditions within the commonwealth, added 1.8 points on the month to 55.1, while the other component, the Index of national business conditions, fell 0.9 points to 49.7.
The gain above the national average also points to a lack of concern over Massachusetts having a Republican governor and a Democratic-controlled legislature when Governor-elect Charlie Baker takes office next month, according to AIM President and CEO Richard Lord.
“There is little indication of concern about having a governor of one party and a legislature controlled by the other,” he said in a statement. “On a special survey question, 54 percent of respondents replied that they expect divided government to work better on Beacon Hill than in Washington, and another 28 percent thought it could be productive at both levels.”
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