The U.S. economic slowdown is affecting consumers and businesses across the country much harder than those right here in Connecticut, according to a survey by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
The state economy has been able to maintain very slow and steady growth, in part because Connecticut did not overbuild during the housing boom and therefore the housing-lending crisis is less pronounced here than in much of the rest of the country. Connecticut companies are guardedly optimistic about business conditions in the state for the first half of 2008, but the national credit problems are starting to hit Connecticut and businesspeople are very concerned about the availability of credit later in the year, according to the survey.
Nearly one-third of the business owners responding to the economic survey expect conditions for their firms to improve over the next quarter (2Q08), compared with 24 percent that expect conditions to worsen. Nearly three-quarters of respondents expect the national economy to worsen over the next quarter, up from 63 percent in the fourth quarter 2007 and dramatically higher than a year ago, when only 19 percent expected a national downturn.
“Despite the continued volatility in the national economy, Connecticut businesses continue to compete and meet the demands of the marketplace,” Peter Gioia, CBIA vice president and economist, said in a statement. “They rated business conditions for their companies as positive, by almost two to one, indicating the economic climate in Connecticut may be strong enough to avert the effects of a looming national recession.”
