Nearly half of Connecticut business leaders expect stable conditions for their firms over the next quarter, a new economic survey from the Connecticut Business & Industry Association has found.
The 2016 CBIA/Farmington Bank 2nd Quarter Economic and Credit Availability Survey reports that 49 percent of companies expect conditions to remain unchanged in the short term compared with the previous quarter.
Just over one-third — 35 percent — said conditions would improve, a 5 percent increase from the first quarter survey, while 17 percent expect their firm’s outlook to worsen, a 2 percent decrease.
The same holds true roughly for workforce predictions, with 53 percent of company leaders expecting no change. About 32 percent say their workforces will grow, while 14 percent expect to cut positions.
More than two-thirds — 69 percent — plan capital investments, mainly in environmental compliance (44 percent), facilities (41 percent), hiring (40 percent), and security (35 percent).
CBIA economist Pete Gioia noted “a slight uptick in optimism,” adding, “the majority of surveyed businesses are still adopting a wait-and-see attitude about the future.”
DataCore Partners’ economist Don Klepper-Smith said he expects the state’s economy to grow about 1 percent in 2016, a minor improvement from last year’s 0.6 percent growth, and well below the long-term average rate of 2.5 percent.
The survey also found:
- 87 percent said credit availability was not a problem for their firm (up a point from the first quarter)
- 35 percent describe Connecticut’s lending climate as good or excellent, up 10 percentage points
- 97 percent were able to fully or partially meet borrowing needs over the previous three months (compared with 93 percent)
The Farmington Bank Credit Availability Index is a diffusion index that interprets the health of Connecticut’s credit markets. This quarter, the FBCAI was 68.5, up 22 percent from the first quarter, indicating positive expectations about future credit conditions.
Of 1,800 Connecticut business leaders solicited for the survey in September, 117 responded, for an estimated response rate of 6.5 percent and a margin of error of +/- 9.2 percent.
