CT employers upbeat on the economy

Connecticut businesses posted strong first-quarter production/sales numbers and their hiring plans for the coming year have improved based on their outlook for the local, state and national economies, according to a quarterly economic survey.

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the state’s principal business lobby, said its first-quarter survey points to growth in key performance areas and business confidence in an improving economy.

The survey found 42 percent of respondents expect the national economy to improve, compared with 30 percent in the 2009 fourth quarter and only 19 percent a year ago. On the state’s economy, 23 percent expect improvement, up from 18 percent last quarter and only 10 percent a year ago, CBIA said.

“We are finally starting to see some positive signs in our surveys,” says CBIA economist Pete Gioia. “The economy has been growing slowly for a few months now, and this survey shows that business executives are experiencing improvements and are optimistic about their firms and the future.”

Other survey highlights:

• Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents expect their firm to improve, up from 21 percent a year ago.  Only 17 percent expect worsening conditions at their firms, down from a high of 42 percent a year ago.

• On the hiring front, 20 percent of business executives expect to increase their workforce in the next quarter, while 45 percent plan to hire additional full-time workers over the next year.

• More than half (52 percent) expect production/sales to increase, up from 25 percent a year ago. Only 17 percent expect a decrease, down from 43 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

• Nearly half (49 percent) expect productivity to increase, up from 24 percent in the second-quarter of 2009, while only 12 percent expect a decrease.

Gioia says the key economic indicators, production/sales and productivity, are growing again and back to where they were before the September 2008 market meltdown, reflecting the emerging economic recovery.

The survey was conducted by CBIA in April.  A total of 366 businesspeople responded, for a 14 percent response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percent.