Spring Continues To Bolster Biz Confidence
The Associated Industries of Massachusetts' monthly index of business confidence recorded a solid 3.6-point gain in May, helping the index reach its highest level since November.
The index came in at 39.0 last month, up from 35.4 in April and a low of 33.3 in February.
"Although the economy is still deep in recession, the ‘positive hints' we saw in March, and the ‘bottoming out' foreseen in April, have given way to more substantially improved confidence in May,"said Raymond G. Torto, global chief economic at CB Richard Ellis and chairman of AIM's board of economic advisers.
Confidence appears to be the weakest within the manufacturing sector. That industry's AIM index crept up 1.3 points, but is still 14.7 points below the level recorded for the same period a year earlier.
AIM's index is based on a 100-point scale. In May 2008, the index stood at 49.4, a full 10 points higher than it is today.
AIM has been measuring business confidence since 1991. Its index is based on a survey of AIM member-companies.
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